OJ Simpson and two of his co-conspirators have pled not guilty to multiple charges including felony kidnap and armed robbery stemming from a coordinated holdup on September 16th of two sports memorabilia dealers in Vegas. Three of the other guys who joined OJ in the raid have accepted plea deals and will not stand trial with the others. OJ and his gang claim that they weren’t armed when they stole the goods. Prosecutors say they took tens of thousands worth of stuff that had nothing to do with OJ. A trial date is expected to soon be set.

OJ’s two children, Sydney, 22, and Justin, 19, are both away at college and neither wants anything to do with their dad. They are said to be “furious and embarassed” by their dad’s latest crie, which could land him in prison for up to 20 years:

“When O.J. murdered [Sydney and Justin’s] mother 13 years ago they were too young to understand what was going on.

“But now they are both in college and are aware of their father’s misdeeds.”

Sydney, 22, currently attends Boston University, while Justin, 19, is at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

“Sydney doesn’t really have a relationship with her father – it’s strained at best,” said the source. “She’s mortified by her father’s current situation.”

And Justin has confided to a pal he’s embarassed by his father, added the source.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, December 3, 2007]

Even if the Enquirer doesn’t have a source that knows those two, they’re probably right. It’s not like either one of OJ’s kids is rallying by his side and why should they? It may have been his stuff that was for sale, but he didn’t have to storm in there with a bunch of guys with guns to get it back. There’s been some speculation that he was set up and egged on to commit the crime, but he ultimately did it of his own free will. It will be interesting to see if any of those conspiracy claims come out in the trail.

Last week we reported that OJ was pleading with Fidel Castro to let him move to Cuba, where he could hide from prosecution. This whole story is just so bizarre, but this is the guy who committed double murder and helped make our society just a little more celebrity-obsessed as we watched him get away with it. It’s not like committing armed robbery and fleeing the country are out of character for him.

OJ is shown on 11/10/07 outside of court, thanks to Splash News.