US Court Awards African Man $2 Million For Spending 40 Years In Jail Wrongly

An Ohio man who spent nearly 40 years behind bars for a murder he did not commit will receive $2 million from the state as compensation for his wrongful imprisonment. Ricky Jackson , 59 , and his friends Ronnie and Wiley Bridgeman were sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder of a businessman after a 12 - year - old boy said he saw them commit the crime. All three men were exonerated in November after the witness , Eddie Vernon , recanted his testimony last year and said he had been
pressured and threatened by police to testify .

Jackson , who is the longest - serving wrongfully convicted prisoner, was awarded $1 million on Thursday as a down payment , according to Cleveland . com . The figure is computed from the state’ s base rate for wrongful conviction compensation, which stands at $ 40 , 330 per year in jail . The number is then adjusted for inflation . In addition to the tax - free $ 2million award , Jackson will also receive an undetermined sum of money to account for the wages he lost while in prison , according to his
attorney Michele Berry .

And in January a Connecticut man who spent 21 years in jail for a r * pe and murder he did not commit received $ 6million in compensation after DNA tests proved his innocence . But Jackson was rendered speechless and thankful when he heard about the $ 2 million compensation , calling it ‘ fantastic ’ . ‘ This is going to mean so much, ’ he told Cleveland . com And no matter the amount of money , Jackson and the Bridgeman brothers all have ‘ scars that we are never going to be able to recover from , ’ he recently told Fusion . ‘ I think the opportunity for justice to be served was lost the day we went to court, ’ said Jackson , who said he will never forget the fact that he doesn ’ t have kids . But Jackson said he did not feel bitter or spiteful .

‘ That ’ s something that happened . Everyone is going through something in their life . This was our
something . ’ ‘ Whatever we lost is gone … we can ’ t ever recapture it . ’ Jackson was only 18 when he was convicted of the May 19 , 1975 , murder of Cleveland businessman Harry Franks , who was attacked , robbed and shot to
death.