‘Sing Sing’ Actor JJ Velazquez Officially Exonerated After Serving Nearly 24 Years In Prison For A Murder He Didn’t Commit

‘Sing Sing’ Actor JJ Velazquez Officially Exonerated After Serving Nearly 24 Years In Prison For A Murder He Didn’t Commit

Actor JJ Velazquez was officially exonerated by a judge on Monday morning (Sept. 30), according to multiple reports.

He had been released from Sing Sing Correctional Facility in 2021 after serving nearly 24 years following a wrongful murder conviction.

He was previously sentenced to 25 years to life in 1998 for the murder of a retired New York police officer. The conviction was overturned after a decade-long investigation by Dateline NBC revealed new evidence.

Following his release, JJ Velazquez began working on an A24 film called Sing Sing, which is about a group of incarcerated men who find purpose in theater.

Starring Oscar-nominated actor Colman Domingo, it tells the real-life story of Sing Sing’s Rehabilitation Through Arts (RTA) program. JJ Velazquez, now 48, called his emotional exoneration an “indictment of the system of justice,” stating,

“I was kidnapped by this country and enslaved. This is not a celebration. This is an indictment of the system.”

Let’s send him some love in the comments!

[VIA: 1,2]