New York Man Freed After Spending 19 Years In Prison For Robbery He Didn’t Commit

A New York man who spent nearly 20 years in prison for a robbery he didn't commit has finally regained his freedom.

A New York man has finally been freed after spending 19 years behind bars for using a money order he says he didn’t know was stolen.

Kenneth Windley walked free on March 16 after being wrongfully tied to a 2005 robbery he did not commit, stemming from his use of a money order he says he didn’t know was stolen to purchase a stove for his mother, NBC News reports. Nearly two decades after being convicted of second-degree robbery and sentenced to 20 years to life, a Brooklyn judge vacated his conviction after prosecutors revisited his claims of innocence and determined he was not involved in the crime.

“It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that’s all that matters,” Windley, 61, said.

Windley’s conviction stemmed from an April 1, 2005, robbery in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section, where two men followed a 70-year-old victim into his building and robbed him of cash and blank money orders.

Authorities linked Windley to the crime after he used one of the stolen money orders to buy his mother a stove, and the victim later identified him. At his 2007 trial, Windley denied any involvement, saying he purchased the money order from two street sellers for about $400, believing it was legitimate despite suspecting they were hustlers. He testified he had never used a money order before and did not realize it may have been stolen.

Windley was convicted of second-degree robbery in March 2007 and, due to prior felonies, was sentenced to 20 years to life.

Years later, he located the actual perpetrators—incarcerated for a string of robberies targeting elderly men—who confirmed he had no involvement in the Crown Heights case. Their statements were backed by recorded prison calls and emails.

“It has taken many years, but today we are able to validate his account, release him from prison and exonerate his name,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.