The man receives $ 1.7 million after 34 years of unjustly imprisonment …

Sidney Holmes, an African American man from Broward County, Florida, spent 34 years in prison for a robbery he hasn’t committed.

Ons Jabeur announces the break from professional tennis to “finally put myself in the first place”

Now 59 years old, he will receive $ 1.7 million in compensation for the decades that he has lost behind the bars.

Holmes was only 23 when he was sentenced in 1988 to serve as a driver in a robbery near Fort Lauderdale.

He has always claimed to be innocent and said he was at home on the night of the crime and was not part.

Despite his statements, he was sentenced to 400 years in prison.

“I thought, you know, enough,” he told NBC Miami. “I was about to die in prison.”

While in prison, Holmes did not give up. He focused on education and used his time to earn several degrees, including a degree in theology and certifications in legal services and computers.

“I transformed the anger into success, I took angry and I educated myself; I got a degree, I obtained a degree in theology, I obtained PR, degree in legal service, computer certification,” he said.

In recent years, the Office of the State Prosecutor of the County of Broward has reopened the case through his unit of revision of the sentence. Investigators discovered that the key tests – the descriptions of the witnesses of a yellow car – were weak because the yellow cars were very common at the moment. This helped to cancel the name of Holmes and was released in 2023.

Even after his liberation, Holmes did not get the Florida law usually provides those who are unjustly sentenced due to his past record. But at the beginning of this year, this was directed when legislators approved a special account. Governor Ron Desantis signed it, assigning Holmes $ 1.7 million.

“There is no money … it will never be enough money in your life to take all the memories. The time you lost, I lost my father, you know, I lost 34 years of not being a son for my father because … I was his only son,” Holmes said.

Now free, Holmes is transforming his experience into action. He is writing a book and is starting a foundation to support others who have been unjustly sentenced.

Related