O.J. Simpson to Parole Board -- I'm the Mother Teresa of Prison

O.J. Simpson says he’s been nothing but a saint behind bars -- a model prisoner-- and now he’s begging Nevada prison officials to go easy on him because, well, he really didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. Suuuuure, pal.

At his first parole hearing today, O.J. said he’s spent the last five years in prison with some really bad dudes -- guys who’ve robbed banks, casinos, and gun shops. But, he says, his crime was much different from those ... because he was merely trying to "retrieve" his OWN stuff.

O.J. is serving time at the Lovelock Correction Center for a botched robbery of sports memorabilia in a Vegas hotel room in 2007. He was convicted of kidnapping, robbery and burglary and was sentenced to up to 33 years in prison.

During the parole hearing, Simpson tried to convince a parole commissioner that he’s kept his nose clean these past few years and hasn’t gotten into any trouble while in the big house.

The board didn’t issue a ruling today -- and won’t for a couple of weeks -- but don't expect The Juice to get out of prison anytime soon.

Because he's serving concurrent and consecutive sentences for crimes stemming from the Vegas incident -- O.J. will have to serve AT LEAST a few more years behind bars, even with a favorable ruling from the parole board.