Governor Cooper grants pardons of innocence
RALEIGH: Governor Roy Cooper has granted Pardons of Innocence for five men convicted of crimes they did not commit: Ronnie Wallace Long, Teddy Lamont Isbell, Sr., Damian Miguel Mills, Kenneth Manzi Kagonyera and Larry Jerome Williams, Jr.
“We must continue to work to reform our justice system and acknowledge when people have been wrongly convicted. I have carefully reviewed the facts in each of these cases and, while I cannot give these men back the time they served, I am granting them Pardons of Innocence in the hope that they might be better able to move forward in their lives,” said Governor Cooper.
Read the pardon orders here:
The pardon applications were thoroughly reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, the Office of the General Counsel and the Governor.
The pardons make Long, Isbell, Kagonyera, Mills and Williams eligible to file a claim under a North Carolina law that allows compensation to persons wrongly convicted of felonies.
