From the Crime Through Exoneration—and the Work After

January 27, 1998 · The crime

Retired NYPD officer Albert Ward, 59, was killed during an armed robbery inside the illegal gambling joint he owned and operated in Harlem. Witnesses initially described two Black men. Several accounts described the shooter as light-skinned, with facial hair and braids. The first description and composite were created before JJ entered the investigation. The National Registry of Exonerations preserves the most complete public chronology.

February 2, 1998 · JJ is arrested and loses his freedom

After learning that police wanted to question him, 22-year-old JJ voluntarily appeared with a lawyer and participated in a lineup. Police had centered on him after Augustus Brown reviewed roughly 1,800 arrest photographs and selected JJ while expressing doubt about the eyes. JJ is Hispanic, had closely cropped hair, and did not match the race-and-hair combination in the original description. No physical evidence tied him to the scene. He was arrested and remained wrongfully incarcerated as the case moved toward trial.

March 7, 2000 · Wrongful conviction and a life sentence

The prosecution’s case rested principally on eyewitness identifications. Phone records confirmed a 74-minute call between JJ’s and Maria Velazquez’s residences from 11:44 a.m. to 12:58 p.m. The call overlapped the earlier betting-slip visit and ended before the later robbery and shooting; JJ’s girlfriend testified that he remained with her until about 3:30 p.m. A family photograph showed his hair was too short to match the braids witnesses described. The jury acquitted him of first-degree murder but convicted him of second-degree murder, attempted murder, robbery, and attempted robbery. He was sentenced to an aggregate term of 25 years to life. The official 2016 appellate opinion records the trial and earlier procedural history.

2000–2011 · Wrongful incarceration, advocacy, and a case kept alive

During his wrongful incarceration, JJ maintained his innocence through direct appeal and federal habeas review while building a substantial body of work. He earned college degrees, trained as a paralegal, helped other incarcerated people pursue innocence claims, and created programs focused on education, youth, accountability, and community safety.

NBC producer Dan Slepian began investigating JJ’s case in 2002. In 2010, Robert C. Gottlieb and Celia Gordon became JJ’s principal post-conviction attorneys, beginning a representation that would continue across renewed investigation, state motions, appeals, and the long effort to secure his freedom.

February 12, 2012 · Dateline broadcasts “Conviction”

Luke Russert reported “Conviction,” the Dateline NBC broadcast built from Slepian’s investigation. The program brought the witness recantations, identification problems, alibi evidence, and absence of physical evidence to a national audience. It also helped prompt review by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Conviction Integrity Unit. Watch the preserved Dateline report and read the reporting chronology.

2013–2018 · Gottlieb and Gordon press the case through setbacks

Robert C. Gottlieb and Celia Gordon were the principal attorneys carrying JJ’s post-conviction case during this period. They presented the innocence evidence to the Manhattan DA’s new conviction-integrity operation, filed the 2013 CPL 440 motion, and represented JJ on the appeal from its denial. The official 2016 appellate decision lists Gottlieb, Gordon, and Justin Heinrich as counsel for JJ.

The first conviction-integrity review left the conviction in place. The 2013 motion was denied in 2014, and that denial was affirmed in 2016. In 2017, Gottlieb and Gordon returned to court with a police report concerning an alternate-suspect description. They argued it contained potentially exculpatory information that had not been disclosed; prosecutors disputed that account. The DA opposed the renewed motion, which was denied in 2018. NBC News documented their earlier motion to vacate and the evidence they developed, while CBS New York covered the 2017 police-report motion. The Manhattan DA’s 2024 account records the 2018 denial as part of the procedural history.

July 2, 2020 · Independent DNA analysis excludes JJ

Testing in 2014 had produced a DNA mixture from the discarded betting slip handled by the man witnesses called “Tee”, but the profile was not compared with JJ at that time. After a court ordered disclosure of the underlying data, Cybergenetics reported on July 2, 2020 that JJ was excluded as a contributor. The result did not identify the shooter, but it placed new scientific evidence beside a record already marked by inconsistent identifications and no physical evidence connecting JJ to the scene.

August 17, 2021 · Executive clemency

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo granted JJ executive clemency and commuted his sentence. Clemency made release possible, but it did not vacate the conviction or declare him innocent. JJ still carried the murder conviction and continued seeking exoneration. The Associated Press reported the clemency grant among Cuomo’s final actions as governor.

September 9, 2021 · Release from Sing Sing

JJ walked out of Sing Sing after exactly 23 years, 7 months, and 8 days of wrongful imprisonment. Release restored his physical freedom, not his legal record. He immediately continued the work he had built inside—prison visits, public education, legal reform, youth advocacy, and the effort to clear his name.

2022 · Manhattan prosecutors reopen the case

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg reorganized the conviction-integrity operation as the Post-Conviction Justice Unit, which reopened JJ’s case in 2022. The new review examined the DNA result together with the eyewitness record, alibi evidence, and absence of physical evidence.

October 18, 2022 · President Biden apologizes during a presidential forum

JJ joined President Joe Biden for the NowThis Presidential Forum in the East Room of the White House. After JJ described losing 23 years, 7 months, and 8 days and asked about clear standards for clemency, Biden replied, “on behalf of all society, I apologize for it.” The full NowThis exchange and dated forum transcript preserve the moment.

The apology was an extraordinary public acknowledgment by a sitting president, but it did not change JJ’s legal status. His conviction remained in force until the court dismissed the indictment in 2024.

April 10, 2023 · The medical examiner confirms the DNA exclusion

The Office of Chief Medical Examiner confirmed the independent analysis: JJ was excluded from every betting-slip sample where comparison was possible. The result did not identify the shooter, but it excluded JJ from biological material on an object witnesses said the shooter had handled.

March 9, 2024 · Community supervision ends

JJ completed the period of community supervision that followed his clemency and release. He was no longer under correctional supervision, but the murder conviction still remained on his record. The National Registry of Exonerations chronology records this final step before the renewed motion to vacate.

September 30, 2024 · Exoneration

JJ’s attorneys filed a new motion on September 23, 2024. Prosecutors joined it the next day, explaining that the DNA exclusion, considered with inconsistent identifications and the absence of physical evidence, created a reasonable probability of a different verdict. On September 30, Justice Abraham Clott vacated the convictions and dismissed the indictment. The Manhattan DA’s annual report records the office’s decision, and the Associated Press reported from the hearing.

Clemency ended JJ’s wrongful imprisonment. Exoneration ended the conviction. They were separate milestones, three years apart.

2024–2025 · SING SING and an impact campaign across prison walls

JJ used his role in the Oscar-nominated film SING SING to support prison screenings and public conversations about art, dignity, and rehabilitation. TIME documented the impact campaign and its effort to bring the film into correctional facilities, while The Marshall Project published JJ’s first-person account of the theater work behind it. In February 2025, he reunited with fellow cast members at New York Theatre Workshop for the first public performance in twenty years of “Breakin’ the Mummy’s Code.”

December 24–26, 2025 · Civil-rights actions are filed

On December 24, 2025, JJ filed a federal civil-rights action against New York City and several former law-enforcement officials. His complaint alleges that officials fabricated or concealed evidence, coerced witnesses, and maliciously prosecuted him. The allegations have not been adjudicated, and the case remains pending. Two days later, Maria Velazquez and JJ’s sons filed a related action alleging harm to the family; those claims also remain pending.

June 2026 · A narrative feature enters development

Permut Presentations and NBC News Studios announced that a narrative feature based on JJ’s life and Dan Slepian’s reporting was in development. No release date was announced. Variety reported the project.

The work continues

Exoneration corrected JJ’s legal record, but it could not return the years taken from him or solve Albert Ward’s murder. JJ continues to lead prison visits as Director of Impact and Partnerships at the Frederick Douglass Project for Justice and serves as co-founder and CEO of Voices From Within and Monumental Media. He also speaks, consults, and advances public dialogue about wrongful convictions and community safety. The timeline ends with a corrected record, not with the end of his advocacy.