#thefuckery Stole his while adult life and didn't want to make up for it...Smh


After serving 44 years for a rape and burglary he did not commit, 68-year-old Ronnie Long reached a settlement with the state of North Carolina for $25 million - the second largest wrongful conviction settlement in U.S. history.


Long was initially given only an insulting $750K in compensation. But after filing a civil lawsuit, he was awarded an additional $25 million along with a formal apology.

In 1976, Long was only 21 years old when an all-white jury that was “hand-picked by local law enforcement” convicted him of raping a “prominent” 54-year-old White woman in Concord, NC. He was given two life sentences.


An appeals court finally overturned his conviction in 2020, citing jury tampering by the police chief and false testimonies from detectives. Prosecutors also deliberately suppressed evidence that could have proven his innocence, including: a rape kit that collected 43 different fingerprints and a suspect’s hair that did not match Long’s. Semen samples also “disappeared” from evidence.


After his release, Long was eager to spend time with his family, including wife Ashleigh, who he married from prison in 2014. Sadly, both of Long’s parents died before seeing him freed and exonerated from this American nightmare. His mother passed just 30 days before his release. He told CBS News, “I know my mother and father died with a broken heart. I’m gonna tell them now, when I visit the gravesite, ‘Your son is clear.