O.J. Simpson is, for the time being, a free man.

A Las Vegas judge has set bond at $125,000 for the former football star, as agreed to by the prosecutors and defense teams, allowing Simpson to return to his Florida home—which he took immediate advantage of—until a status hearing on his litany of criminal charges next month.

Simpson, accompanied by attorney Yale Galanter and girlfriend Christine Prody, flew to Miami Wednesday night. A throng of reporters greeted the arrival of his US Airways flight, but the erstwhile murder suspect walked silently by, attempting to shield his face with a garment bag.

Asked how Simpson was doing, Prody said, "He's fine."

The relatively low bail sum was hashed out by Clark County District Attorney Daniel Rogers and Simpson's attorneys, Galanter and Gabe Grasso, prior to the hearing, but it came with several stipulations.

Simpson was ordered to surrender his passport to his attorney within 24 hours and refrain from any contact of any kind with witnesses, victims and codefendants in the case. He will, however, be able to travel freely within the country, including his return trip to court next month.

"No direct or indirect contact," Clark County Judge Joe Bonaventure stressed to Simpson. "If you see them walking down the street, you're to cross the street. Don't use email, telephone, mail, passenger pigeon, no whatsoever contact."

Any violation of the stipulations of Simpson's release would result in further legal repercussions.

"Those are very standard bond conditions," Galanter said outside the courthouse, adding that the deal was brokered several days ago and that Simpson's passport had already been turned over to him.

Of criticism of the low bond figure, Galanter told reporters that it suited the case.

"Despite his past, he is not a danger to the community," he said. "Other than him being Mr. Simpson, there is nothing unusual about this case.

"What we came to do here this morning has happened."

The 60-year-old Simpson appeared cuffed in his blue jail clothes in the courtroom, though did not, as expected, enter a plea in any of the 11 criminal counts, 10 of which are felonies, that he currently faces.

Among the more serious charges on Simpson's ever-growing rap sheet are first-degree kidnapping with a deadly weapon, coercion with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery, stemming from his role in an alleged break-in at the Palace Station hotel last Thursday in connection with the retrieval of sports memorabilia he says belonged to him and was stolen by a former agent.

Simpson was not arraigned on the charges Wednesday and spoke only briefly, when asked by the judge if he understood the charges against him and the terms of his release.

"Yes, sir," he answered to both, after appearing visibly upset during the reading of the charges he faces.

According to Galanter, bond was posted immediately following the hearing, with standard processing at the detention center lasting between six and eight hours.

"They want him out as soon as possible, too," he said of the jailhouse. "We do expect Mr. Simpson to go back to Florida in the next few days."

They don't, however, expect him to plead his case in the court of public opinion.

"He is not doing any interviews," Galanter told reporters. "So don't ask."

Simpson's arraignment is scheduled to take place sometime during the week of Oct. 22, at which point, Galanter said, he will plead not guilty to all charges.

"There is a time and place for doing battle," Galanter said.

"We understand who our client is. We know what public perception is, we know what you guys think. We get it. The question is, how do you deal with it? That's a question we'll deal with later on down the road."

Meanwhile, Charles Cashmore, one of the previously unnamed suspects in the case, surrendered to police Wednesday morning and is expected to appear in court tomorrow to face a list of charges that includes robbery, assault and burglary with a deadly weapon. According to police, he brought some of the missing sports-related items with him when he turned himself in.

Authorities are reportedly still looking for a fifth man who may have been involved.

In an unfortunate coincidence for him, memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley, one of the men who claims to have been a target of the alleged heist, was arrested for parole violation Wednesday.

Beardsley was paroled in March 2006 after serving 11 months of a two-year sentence for stalking a woman in Riverside County and he was supposed to get written approval to travel more than 50 miles away from his Burbank, California, home. He is being held without bail pending an extradition hearing Thursday.

Thomas Riccio, the memorabilia collector who arranged the meeting and then secretly made a recording of it, also has a criminal record. He received three years' probation for grand larceny in 1984 and was sentenced to two years in prison on an arson charge in 1995.

Riccio, who has claimed that he was completely shocked by what went down at Palace Station last week, says that he's working out an immunity deal with Clark County prosecutors and that he's not worried about his past affecting his credibility.

"Everything's on the tape," he said. "That's why it's on tape."

Along with Simpson, fellow suspects Walter Alexander and Clarence Stewart have been charged and released in advance of their upcoming court appearances. Michael McClinton, who is also facing the same list of charges, surrended to police Tuesday.

(Originally published Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2007 at 9:12 a.m. PT)