A simple question posed to O.J. Simpson at his parole hearing on Thursday in Carson City, Nevada — “What were you thinking?” — led Simpson into a complicated story involving a figure named “Riccio.” But who is Thomas Riccio, the memorabilia dealer Simpson placed at the center of the case?
Riccio, 54, is the shaggy gray-haired figure familiar to viewers of the final installment of last year’s documentary “OJ: Made in America.” Simpson testified that Riccio goaded him into going to the Palace Station hotel in Las Vegas to retrieve belongings he said were his. Two of the men he brought along as “security” were armed, and Simpson was sentenced to prison for robbery and other charges.