Original homepage · Campaign overview
An Innocent Man Unjustly Convicted
The original campaign homepage introduced JJ’s innocence claim, the identification failures, his alibi, the Dateline investigation, and the movement that kept the case visible.
The campaign’s central message
The original Free Jon-Adrian Velazquez website presented JJ as an innocent man serving a 25 to Life sentence for a murder he did not commit. It argued that the conviction rested on unreliable eyewitness identifications even though JJ did not match the original description, no physical evidence connected him to the crime, and phone records supported his alibi. The confirmed call ended before the later robbery and shooting; his girlfriend testified that he remained with her through the relevant period.
The public record now includes the National Registry of Exonerations case profile, which lists mistaken witness identification, perjury or false accusation, official misconduct, and inadequate legal defense as contributing factors. The Registry separately records DNA evidence as contributing to the exoneration.
The case the public was asked to examine
The campaign directed visitors to examine the killing of retired NYPD officer Albert Ward during a robbery inside an illegal Harlem gambling joint, the investigation, witness descriptions, identification procedures, trial, alternate-suspect information, and post-conviction record. Those subjects are now organized as separate local pages in the complete case archive.
Reporting that changed the public record
The homepage highlighted Dateline NBC’s “Conviction”, Dan Slepian’s long investigation, JJ’s interview on the Wrongful Conviction podcast, the later Letters from Sing Sing podcast, public forums on criminal legal reform, and reporting on the network of incarcerated men who helped one another establish innocence. The Innocence Project covered Dateline’s investigation in 2012, and NBC News Studios later documented the reporting journey through Letters from Sing Sing and The Sing Sing Chronicles. Outside reporting and media remain linked from the Watch + Listen section of this site.
JJ in his own words
The campaign also centered JJ’s belief that everyday choices shape lives. During his wrongful incarceration, he translated that principle into peer leadership, education, mentoring, mutual aid, and community-safety programs.
A historical record
The original homepage was built to win freedom and exoneration. JJ was released on September 9, 2021, after 23 years, 7 months, and 8 days of wrongful incarceration. His conviction was vacated and the indictment dismissed on September 30, 2024. The Associated Press reported from the exoneration hearing, and JJ’s attorneys published the legal team’s account of the joint motion and dismissal. Historical requests to contact prosecutors or support the former legal campaign have therefore been retained as history, not as current instructions.