BREAKING NEWS: Chicago Man Wrongfully Convicted Freed After 33 Years in Prison Just Before Holidays.giang

Just in time for the holidays, a Chicago man who was falsely convicted and imprisoned for 33 years walked free Monday night into the arms of loved ones

According to his lawyer, Hilton Keller was only 18 years old when he was set up by a senior gang member and Chicago police to carry out the armed robbery and murder of game store owner Ollie Jones in 1991. Keller walked out of the correction facility Monday where his aunt and other family members were waiting. Before indulging is a heavily-anticipated rib dinner, the former prisoner implored other innocent men to “keep fighting” until the very end. It’s not impossible keep fighting,” he told an ABC news crew. “That is how you get back.”

According to Keller’s lawyer, at the time, prosecutors relied on the testimony of a younger gang member who later confessed to lying. “In the 20 years I have been working on wrongful convictions, I have never seen a more egregious case of framing an innocent man,” Keller’s defense lawyer, Stuart Chanen, said in a statement. “It would have taken just ten minutes of actual police work to determine that Keller was innocent.”

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However, prosecutors allegedly relied on the statements of two other dishonest witnesses as they proceeded with their case. Keller’s defense team was not given information that was legally required. One of the individuals who gave false testimony against Keller then spoke with him from prison in May 2019, acknowledging his involvement in the wrongful conviction.

Due to “good time,” Keller was released for seven months in March after accepting a deal that reduced his sentence from 70 to 60 years. According to Keller’s lawyer, he accepted the offer because he was frantic to visit his ailing mother in Texas, but he never did.

Then, instead of having his sentence reduced, Keller demanded that his conviction be overturned because he wanted to void it. Due to the invalidated agreement, he was sent back to prison while his legal team tried to get the conviction overturned, which was accomplished on Monday.

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“For all these years, me within my heart, I knew he didn’t do it,” Barber said. “I didn’t know what we could do to help him out.. but God saw fit today. You’re free, you’re free,” Gertrude Barber remembered telling her nephew Hilton Keller during a hug after he was released from Cook County Jail on Monday night. “Thank God Almighty, free at last.”

That senior gang member, who Keller’s defense team believes perpetrated the crime, has since died. According to Keller’s lawyer, after the first of the year, they will apply for a certificate of innocence from the Cook County Criminal Court. Keller is on pre-trial release because the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office has 30 days to determine whether to retry the case.

The appearance of Keller’s family has changed significantly since he entered prison. When he was released in March on a reduced term that did not absolve him of the murder conviction in the last days of his mother’s life, Barber said he met his seven nephews this year.

Due to the terms of his release, Keller was unable to get to Texas in time to witness his mother’s last moments.