Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, the wrongfully convicted former prisoner who now appears with Colman Domingo in the A24 prison drama Sing Sing, has been officially exonerated in a 1998 murder case.
Velazquez reportedly thumped his chest and pumped his fist as he was officially cleared by Judge Abraham Clott in a Manhattan courthouse Monday morning.
“With the consent of the People I am granting the petition to set aside the verdict on the grounds of newly discovered evidence,” Clott said.
Related Stories
Velazquez is among Sing Sing‘s ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors. The drama takes place at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility, where Velazquez was falsely imprisoned for 23 years. He was released in 2021 when his sentence was commuted.
In a statement today, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L Bragg said the 48-year-old Velazquez, wrongfully convicted in the 1998 murder of 59-year-old Albert Ward, “has lived in the shadow of his conviction for more than 25 years, and I hope that today brings with it a new chapter for him.”
Watch on Deadline
According to Bragg, on January 27, 1998, two individuals committed a robbery of a gambling parlor on Frederick Douglas Boulevard in Harlem. During the robbery, Ward, who was a retired police detective, pulled out a gun and a struggle ensued with one of the armed robbers, who identified himself as “Tee.” Ward was eventually shot and killed by “Tee.” Years after Velazquez was convicted, DNA testing of a betting slip that “Tee” handled before shooting Ward cleared Velazquez of the crime.
Velazquez’s case has been the subject of various Dateline NBC reports over the years.
Outside the courthouse today, the 48-year-old Velazquez, wearing a baseball cap that said “End of an Error,” told reporters, “I’m lucky that so many people believed in me.”