N.Y. man who spent 19 years in prison after buying mom a stove with stolen money order is freed
A New York man was released from prison Monday after spending nearly two decades behind bars for a robbery he didn’t commit.
Kenneth Windley was linked to the 2005 crime after buying a stove for his mother with a money order he didn’t know was stolen. Windley, 61, was convicted of second-degree robbery and sentenced to 20 years to life in prison. A Brooklyn judge threw out his conviction after prosecutors reexamined his claims of innocence and concluded he was not involved in the crime.
“It took many years, but today we are able to verify his account, get him out of prison, and clear his name,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.
Windley, 61, said outside the courthouse: According to Associated Press: “It cost me 20 years, but they said they fixed it now. That’s all that matters.”
Windley’s conviction was in connection with an April 1, 2005 robbery in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Two men followed a 70-year-old man to his apartment and robbed him in the elevator, stealing $485 in cash and two blank, unsigned money orders (one for $542, the other for $9). Review of the case announced by the prosecutor’s office on Monday.
Authorities linked Windley to the crime after he used the larger money order to buy a stove for his mother. According to the investigation, the victim was arrested when he identified Windley as one of the men who searched his pockets.
Windley denied involvement in the robbery at his 2007 trial and testified that he used the money order only after purchasing up to $400 from two men outside the store, according to the review.
During the investigation, he said he knew the men were “scammers” and were selling things on the street, but he believed he was helping them by buying the order.
According to the investigation, Windley stated that he had never used a money order before and did not ask if it had been stolen.
Windley was convicted of second-degree robbery in March 2007. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison for previous serious crimes, the prosecutor’s office said.
According to the statement, Windley eventually tracked down the men, who were incarcerated for a series of robberies that began in 2005 and targeted elderly men returning home from the bank.
The unidentified men confirmed to the prosecution that Windley was not involved in the Crown Heights robbery.
The prosecutor’s office said that the accounts of these people were verified by recorded phone calls and e-mails in the prison.
This article was first published on: NBCNews.com
