10 Longest Wrongful Incarcerations In the History of The United States

Wrongful convictions and incarceration are common occurrences in the United States’s Justice system. As of 2020,  a total of 2,551 exonerations were mentioned in the National Registry of Exonerations, these are individuals who have spent an extraordinary amount of time imprisoned for crimes they did not commit.  According to the University of Colorado, the leading factors responsible for this include eyewitness misidentification,  police & prosecutorial misconduct, and false accusation & perjury which has been a contributing factor in 60% of exoneration cases across the country. With that being said here are the 10 longest wrongful incarcerations in the history of the United States.

1. Anthony Mazza (47 years)

Anthony Mazza spent more than 47 years in prison for murder and robbery he did not commit before his conviction was vacated in 2020. His case is the longest wrongful incarceration in the history of the United States. He was framed by his friend Robert Anderson for the murder of Peter Armata.

According to the report in the National Registry of Exonerations,  Although the victim’s body was found in Robert Andersons’s apartment on July 5, 1972, he, however, claimed he was innocent, noting that he had returned to his apartment a few days earlier, where he found Mazza standing over the victim’s body.

Mazza was also arrested on July 6, 1972, with  Armata’s driver’s license and bank identification card found in his apartment. Both Mazza and Anderson were initially charged with murder, but Anderson’s charges were later dropped after he testified before a grand jury that Mazza alone was the Killer.

The jury convicted Mazza of first-degree murder and robbery and sentenced him to life imprisonment without parole. It is imperative to note that Anderson’s statements about the killing were contradictory and his testimony was inconsistent. Also, Mazza had an alibi, who maintained that Anderson himself was the killer.

After filing numerous petitions and motions throughout the years, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts reversed Mazza’s conviction in 2020 because an undisclosed 1972 witness statement, which identified Anderson as the murderer undermined the integrity of the jury’s judgment.

2. Richard Phillips (46 Years)

Richard Phillips spent a total of 46 years, 1 month, and 6 days in prison after he was wrongfully convicted for the murder of Gregory Harris in 1972 in Detroit, Michigan.  He was released 0n December 14, 2017,  after his conviction was vacated, making his case one of the longest incarcerations in the history of the United States.

Like 60% of exoneration cases across the country, Richard Phillips was also framed for the murder of Gregory Harris by his friend Fred Mitchell, who killed the victim, because he allegedly stole $500 from his mother.  Mitchell told the Police that Palombo (Mitchell’s Accomplice)  and Phillips had killed Harris.

Despite the fact that Mitchell has been ad been convicted previously of manslaughter and that the murder weapon was found on him. His testimony was the only evidence implicating Palombo and Phillips. On October 5, 1972, the jury convicted Palombo and Phillips of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. They were both sentenced to life in prison without parole.

After numerous appeals, petitions, and motions, Palombo appeared before the Michigan Department of Corrections Parole Board in 2010 to testify in support of a petition for clemency he had filed. After denying involvement in the crime for nearly 40 years, Palombo admitted under oath that he and Mitchell had committed the murder.

Asked about Phillips’s involvement, Palombo said Phillips wasn’t there. “I did not know Mr. Phillips at the time,” Palombo said. “And as far as I know, he had nothing to do with anything,” Palombo said Mitchell knew he could pin it on Phillips because after Harris was killed, Phillips had been arrested for an armed robbery based on a witness who erroneously identified him.

3. Isaiah Andrews (45 Years)

With a total of  ​45 years, 1 month, and 24 days spent in prison, Isaiah Andrews’s case takes third place among the longest wrongful incarcerations in the history of the United States. He was wrongfully convicted of the aggravated murder of his wife, Regina Andrew on March 12, 1975, and was sentenced to life in prison.

On September 18, 1974, Regina’s body was found in some woods near a parking lot at Forest Hills Park on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio.  Isaiah and Regina were staying at a motel prior to her murder. He left the motel at 8 a.m. to run some errands, then returned around noon when he discovered she was missing.

He then called the police and reported his wife missing.  The detectives, however, interviewed Andrews as a suspect that day. As he had been recently released from federal prison after serving 15 years for murder for killing his drill sergeant after an argument, while he was in the Marines.

The Police arrested  Andrews on September 21, 1974, and  He was indicted on a charge of aggravated murder on January 24, 1975. There was no physical or forensic evidence tying him to his wife’s death but discrepancies in the time-of-death estimates and the statement of two witnesses Betty Worthy and Linda Cloud led to his conviction.

Thanks to The Ohio Innocence Project which filed a public records request for the case file on Regina’s murder. It was revealed that the crime was committed by Willie H. Watts, a suspect who was able to provide alibi witnesses thanks to the discrepancies in the time-of-death estimates.  Andrews was released from prison and then from the Cuyahoga County Jail on May 5, 2020.

4. Wilbert Jones (45 years)

Wilbert Jones was incarcerated for ​45 years, 1 month, and 24 days after a woman identified as A.H. wrongly identified him as her sexual assaulter. He was charged with aggravated rape, convicted by a jury, and sentenced to life in prison on February 6, 1973, on the basis of A.H.’s testimony.

A.H. was sexually assaulted by an armed man, on the night of October 2, 1971, she said her attacker had a single gap between his front teeth and a smooth, soft voice. Jone became a suspect after the suspect of an attempted rape identified him as an alibi. On January 13, 1972, Jones  was arrested at his home

Jones, alongside some other men, were ordered to say certain phrases aloud that A.H. attributed to her attacker during the assault. A.H. identified Jones as her attacker but expressed concern due to his “rougher” voice and height.  In September 1973, the Louisiana Supreme Court reversed his conviction and ordered a new trial on the basis of racial prejudice by the Jury. He was however convicted and sentenced to life in prison, the second time.

In 2001, lawyers at Innocence Project New Orleans began re-investigating the case. They ultimately discovered that another man, Arnold Ray O’Conner, had been implicated in two rapes that were similar to the attack on A.H.  One of the victims described Conner as about 6 feet to 6 feet two inches tall, with a space between his teeth and a soft voice.

In March 2015, Innocence Project New Orleans lawyers filed a petition for a new trial for Jones, arguing that the prosecution should have disclosed the existence of evidence suggesting that O’Conner, “a serial kidnapper-rapist,” was responsible for the attack on A.H.  On October 31, 2017, District Judge Richard Anderson vacated Jones’s conviction. He was released on bond on November 15, 2017.

5. Vincent Simmons (44 Years)

Among the longest wrongful incarcerations in the history of the United State, is the case of Vincents Simmons, a 24-year-old black man who spent 44 years, 6 months, and 18 days in prison after he was wrongly convicted of child sex abuse, following the accusation by the twin sisters Karen and Sharon Sanders.

According to victims, Vincents had requested a ride while they were driving home with their Keith Laborde.  He however pulled out a gun and forced Laborde and each of the girls into the trunk, while raping the other. Vincent was arrested and charged with two counts of aggravated rape after the victims identified him as the assailant.

The jury convicted Simmons of both counts on July 28, 1977. Following his conviction, Simmons was sentenced to two 50-year sentences in prison, to run consecutively. It is imperative to note that a medical report during the indictment stated that neither of the girls had any bruising and Sharon Sanders’s hymen was still intact despite her claim that she was deflowered during the assault.

Beginning in the mid-1990s, Simmons and his appellate attorneys discovered evidence that prosecutors had not turned over to his trial attorneys. The list included: the medical report; transcripts of the May 22 interviews with Karen and Sharon Sanders; and the photos and typed reports from the lineup.

After numerous motions and Petitions Judge Bennett vacated Simmons’s convictions on February 14, 2022, stating that Simmons had not received a fair trial in 1977. After the ruling, the prosecution moved to dismiss the charges, saying that there was no purpose in retrying the case.

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6. Ronnie Long (44 Years)

Ronnie Long was 20 years old when he was arrested and charged with rape and burglary. For the next 44 years, he would remain behind bars, making uneventful history as one of the longest wrongful incarcerations in the history of the United States.

Sarah Bost, a 54-year-old widow, was home alone when she was sexually assaulted on April 25, 1976, by an unidentified perpetrator.  Although Sarah did not make an identification. But in the officers’ report, she described her attacker as “a Black male, height, five foot, five to five foot nine, slender build, slim hips” She also stated that the attacker was wearing a dark waist-length leather jacket, blue jeans with a dark toboggan pulled over his head.

A few days after the attack, 20-year-old Ronnie Long became a person of interest in the investigation. He had been a suspect in an investigation of a similar rape and burglary in Washington D.C. in August 1975 after his Social Security card was found at the crime scene. His attorneys would later say he had lost his wallet while visiting the city.

Long was arrested and charged with rape and burglary.  Bost testified that she was sure Long was her attacker, but her testimony differed from her earlier description and from Long’s appearance.  Long did not testify, but he presented a strong alibi for the night of the attack.  The Jury however convicted Long of burglary and rape and sentenced him to life in Prison.

After numerous appeals, petitions, and Motions, Judge Catherine Eagles of the U.S. District Court granted Long’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus on August 27, 2020, and he was released from prison that day. The Cabarrus County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the charges the following on the basis of un-corroborative evidence.

7. Charles Finch (42 Years)

Charles Finch was imprisoned for 42 years after he was wrongly convicted for the murder of Richard Holloman, a convenience store owner, who got shot during a robbery on February 13, 1976. During the investigation,  a man named Noble Harris said  Charles Finch at the store about three hours earlier before the robbery. That was however not unusual, as the 38-year-old Finch lived nearby and was a frequent customer.

The investigator Chief Deputy Tony Owens also stated that he had already been thinking about Finch as a suspect when he drove to the crime scene. Finch had been arrested for a grocery-store robbery a few months earlier, but the charges had been dropped when the victim said Finch wasn’t involved.

Finch was arrested and police recovered a shotgun shell from the ashtray in the left rear door of his blue Cadillac. The only eyewitness to the shooting, Lester Floyd Jones also picked Finch as the person he had seen shoot, Holloman. Finch was then charged with capital murder.

During the trial, Jones testified that Finch used a shotgun to kill Holloman. The state’s physical and forensic evidence was designed to reinforce that testimony. After deliberating for less than two hours, the jury convicted Finch of capital murder and he was sentenced to death, which was commuted to life in prison.

Finch, working with attorneys or acting pro se, sought to overturn his conviction over the next 43 years. During the numerous appeals motions and petitions, Finch’s attorneys were able to assert the numerous deficiencies in the evidence used to convict Finch. On May 23, 2019, Judge Terence Boyle granted Finch’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus, vacated his conviction, and ordered him released from prison.

8. ​Kevin Strickland (42 years)

Kevin Strickland was 18 when he was wrongly convicted and incarcerated for one count of capital murder of Larry Ingram and two counts of second-degree murder of John Walker and Sherrie Black. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, he spent 42 years in prison making his case one of the longest wrongful incarceration in the history of the United States.

A group of four men identified as T.A., Vincent Bell, Kilm Adkins, and a 16-year teenager known as P.H. had visited Ingram, because they believed he had cheated them at dice, and they planned to get their money back.  On getting to the house, they met  Ingram, Cynthia Douglas, her boyfriend,  John Walker,  and  22-year-old Sherrie Black. The men tied up the victims before ransacking the house and shooting each of them.

Only Douglas survived. She was shot in the arm and leg and pretended to be dead. She untied herself and went to a nearby house. The neighbors called the police. Before she left in an ambulance for the hospital, Douglas told police that Vincent Bell and Kilm Adkins were two of the four men involved in the shooting. She knew both men personally. She also gave further descriptions of the two other assailants.

Kansas City police arrested 18-year-old Kevin Bernard Strickland in connection with the shootings. He had a previous arrest as a juvenile for a shooting, but no convictions. He was a neighbor of Bell’s and friends with him and Adkins. Kevin who was uncooperative and combative was identified by Douglas as one of the shooters. He was charged and convicted of one count of capital murder and two counts of second-degree murder.

While Kevin was sentenced to life without parole eligibility for at least 50 years, Adkins and Bell pled guilty to three counts of second-degree murder and were sentenced to 20 years in prison. During his allocution, Bell testified about the shooting and stated that Strickland wasn’t there, identifying T.A. and P.H. as his accomplices. After numerous appeals and petitions, Judge Welsh vacated Strickland’s conviction, on November 23, 2021, stating that there was no physical evidence connected Strickland to the killings.

9. Hubert Myers (42 Years)

Hubert Nathan Myers was 18 years old when he was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated alongside his uncle Clifford Williams Jr for the murder and attempted murder of Jeanette Williams and  Nina Marshall. The duo spent a total of 42 years, 6 months, and 26 days behind bars making their case one of the longest wrongful incarceration in the history of the United States.

Jeanette Williams was shot to death in her apartment in Jacksonville, Florida on  May 2, 1976, Her 26-year-old partner Nina Marshall, was also shot. She however pretended to be dead and waited a few minutes before leaving the apartment to get help.

Marshall while receiving treatment at the hospital for her gunshot wounds, told officers that she and Williams had been shot by two men who stood at the foot of the bed, and she identified the shooters as Clifford Williams Jr and Hubert Myers. She said Williams who owned a pool hall and was a known heroin dealer had shot them over a $100 debt for rent he paid on their apartment.

Both men were arrested and were tested for gunshot residue a few hours later which came back negative. They also had over 40 witness alibi who testified that the duo had been at a party just up the street when they heard shots being fired.  They were however convicted and sentenced to life in prison, with parole possible after 25 years. Their attorneys failed to call alibi witnesses or introduce physical or forensic evidence to challenge the crime.

After Numerous appeals, petitions, and motions, new evidence was discovered: A man named Nathaniel Lawson had confessed to the crime before he died in 1994. According to witnesses, Lawson claimed he shot Williams and Marshall because they were stealing from him and he had to send a message.  The police report also places Lawson near the apartments after the shooting.

Myers and Williams with the help of the Innocence Project of Florida presented a motion to vacate their conviction in 2019. Circuit Court Judge Angela Cox granted the motions on March 28, 2019, after 42 years in prison for a crime, they didn’t commit.

10. Clifford Williams, Jr.

As earlier stated, Clliford Williams Jr was wrongfully convicted and incarcerated alongside his niece Hubert Nathan Myers for the murder and attempted murder of Jeanette Williams and  Nina Marshall. The duo spent a total of 42 years, 6 months, and 26 days behind bars making their case one of the longest wrongful incarceration in the history of the United States.

Jeanette Williams was shot to death in her apartment in Jacksonville, Florida on  May 2, 1976, Her 26-year-old partner Nina Marshall, was also shot. She however pretended to be dead and waited a few minutes before leaving the apartment to get help.

Marshall while receiving treatment at the hospital for her gunshot wounds, told officers that she and Williams had been shot by two men who stood at the foot of the bed, and she identified the shooters as Clifford Williams Jr and Hubert Myers. She said Williams who owned a pool hall and was a known heroin dealer had shot them over a $100 debt for rent he paid on their apartment.

Both men were arrested and were tested for gunshot residue a few hours later which came back negative. They also had over 40 witness alibi who testified that the duo had been at a party just up the street when they heard shots being fired.  They were however convicted and sentenced to life in prison, with parole possible after 25 years. Their attorneys failed to call alibi witnesses or introduce physical or forensic evidence to challenge the crime.

After Numerous appeals, petitions, and motions, new evidence was discovered: A man named Nathaniel Lawson had confessed to the crime before he died in 1994. According to witnesses, Lawson claimed he shot Williams and Marshall because they were stealing from him and he had to send a message.  The police report also places Lawson near the apartments after the shooting.

Myers and Williams with the help of the Innocence Project of Florida presented a motion to vacate their conviction in 2019. Circuit Court Judge Angela Cox granted the motions on March 28, 2019, after 42 years in prison for a crime, they didn’t commit.