Man freed after 20 years in prison for $550 robbery he didn’t commit
Wave Wire Reports
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – A Black man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a $550 robbery he didn’t commit is now free.
The case highlights how mistaken connections to crimes can keep innocent people behind bars for decades, observers say.
Brooklyn resident Kenneth Windley, 61, was linked to a 2005 robbery in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights after officials said he bought his mother a stove with a stolen money order.
At the time, Windley said he purchased the money order from two street sellers, believing he was helping them. He said had never used a money order before and didn’t realize it had been stolen in a previous robbery and.
The victim later identified Windley as one of the men involved in the elevator robbery.
Years later, prosecutors re-examined the case. Windley tracked down the two men who had sold him the money order. They confirmed that he had no part in the robbery. Officials also verified this with recorded prison phone calls and emails.
According to NBC News, a Brooklyn judge tossed Windley’s conviction after the review, clearing his name and setting up his release. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “It has taken many years, but today we are able to validate his account, release him from prison and exonerate his name.”
Outside the courthouse, Windley was practical and philosophical about his release.
“It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now,” Windley said. “So that’s all that matters.”
