A man has had to spend as many as 17 whole years behind bars after someone who looked like him committed a grievous crime.
Richard Anthony Jones is a micarriage of justice victim who spent 17 years locked up for a crime he did not do.
He has however finally been set free after cops found his lookalike.
According to The Sun UK, Richard Anthony Jones from Kansas City,
Kansas, was released after judge declared his conviction was unsound.
Jones had been jailed for armed robbery in 1999 after an eyewitness said he was the robber.
But during a new hearing into his case this same witness could not tell Jones from a man called Ricky who looks just like him.
Jones also lived on the other side of Kansas while his lookalike lived where the robbery happened.
It also turned out that there was no physical, DNA or fingerprint evidence.
After being released, Jones told the Kansas City Star.: “I don’t believe in luck, I believe I was blessed.”
Jones had unsuccessfully appealed his case several times.
But two years ago he heard about a man in jail who looked just like him and even shared his first name.
Jones is reunited with his family after spending nearly 17 years banged up for something he did not do
After realising this could be the man who committed the crime,
Jones contacted the Midwest Innocent Project, a non-profit organisation
that provides legal services to the wrongly-convicted.
An attorney working on Jones’ case said: “We were floored by how much they looked alike.
“Everybody has a doppelgänger, luckily we found his.”
Jones is now getting used to life on the outside and says he is happy to be back with his kids
He said: “When it comes to my kids, it’s been a rough ride, but they are now at an age where they can understand.”
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