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Updated December 23rd, 2018 at 12:32 IST

Dad serves 17 years in jail for crime committed by lookalike; receives hefty amount after the cat was out of bag

An innocent Kansas dad freed from jail after serving 17 years for a robbery he didn't commit is set to get $1.1million in compensation after supporters argued a doppelganger with a similar name could be the one to blame.

Reported by: Daamini Sharma
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An innocent Kansas dad freed from jail after serving 17 years for a robbery he didn't commit is set to get $1.1million in compensation after supporters argued a doppelganger with a similar name could be the one to blame.

Richard Anthony Jones, 42, was jailed in 1999 for the robbery in the parking lot of a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kansas, based on an eyewitness account.     

He was freed last year when a judge ordered his release after supporters found evidence that another man, Ricky Amos, who looked just like him lived near the Walmart.

An attorney on the case said: 'Everybody has a doppelganger. Luckily we found his.'

A judge ordered his release because there was no evidence linking him to the crime and the victims concluded they couldn't tell Richard, right, from Ricky, left.

No physical, DNA or fingerprint evidence that tied him to the crime and Jones, who always maintained his innocence and said he was at his girlfriend's house at the time.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said: 'We are committed to faithfully administering the new mistaken-conviction statute the legislature enacted'.

'In this case, it was possible on the existing record to resolve all issues quickly, satisfy all of the statute's requirements, and agree to this outcome so Mr Jones can receive the benefits to which he is entitled by law because he was mistakenly convicted.'

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Tricia Bushnell, the executive director of the Midwest Innocence Project, which helped represent Jones, said: 'We are absolutely very happy by the result.

'This is why we've all worked so hard to get compensation in the state of Kansas. This will allow Richard to start to rebuild his life after the years that were taken, and that means a lot.'  

Amos said at the hearing that he did not commit the robbery and the statute of limitations on the crime has passed which means he cannot be prosecuted.

Jones is now back with friends and family and will receive $1.1 million compensation 

Jones reached a settlement under a law providing compensation to people wrongly imprisoned. 

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Published December 23rd, 2018 at 12:32 IST

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