‘Sing Sing’ actor exonerated of murder after nearly 24 years in prison
NEW YORK– After serving nearly 24 years in prison before being pardoned and starring in last year’s film Sing Sing,” Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez has been officially acquitted of murder. Prosecutors now say he did not commit it.
A Manhattan judge on Monday overturned the 48-year-old’s wrongful conviction for killing retired New York police officer Albert Ward during a 1998 robbery, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office announced.
The order came after Bragg’s office joined Velazquez’s request to overturn the conviction.
“This is not a party. This is an indictment of the system,” Velazquez said outside the courthouse, according to media reports. He wore a cap with the words “End of a Mistake” printed on it.
Prosecutors have cited newly discovered DNA evidence ahead of Monday’s hearing that they say cleared Velazquez’s name.
“JJ Velazquez has lived in the shadow of his conviction for more than 25 years, and I hope this day brings a new chapter for him,” Bragg said in a statement.
Velazquez appeared as himself in “Sing Sing,” a film starring other former prisoners and actors Colman Domingo as an incarcerated man who helps run a theater program at the nearly two-century-old maximum security prison, 30 miles upriver from New York City.
Velazquez was sentenced to 25 years to life Sing Sing before the then government. Andreas Cuomo granted him early release in 2021.
Prosecutors say two people robbed an underground gambling parlor in Harlem on January 27, 1998, when Ward pulled out a gun. A struggle ensued and the 59-year-old was shot dead by one of the robbers.
Velazquez was convicted in 1999 in a case that depended largely on four eyewitness accounts.
But Velazquez and his mother claimed he was on the phone with her from his home in the Bronx at the time of the shooting.
Two of the witnesses recanted their statements identifying Velazquez, although someone would later change their mind.
Bragg’s office reopened the case in 2022 and had the medical examiner’s office compare Velazquez’s DNA to a betting slip handled by the suspect.
The DNA comparison – which was not available at the time of his trial – showed that Velazquez’s DNA was not on the panties.
Prosecutors concluded that the results of the DNA test could have influenced the jury’s decision. They also noted that there was no physical evidence linking Velazquez to the crime, and that eyewitnesses gave inconsistent statements.
Velazquez’s efforts to have his conviction overturned were bolstered by “West Wing” and “Apocalypse Now” star Martin Sheen, who held a press conference highlighting the case in 2011. NBC’s “Dateline” also explored it in 2012.
Velazquez earned a bachelor’s degree, worked as a lecturer for a professor at Columbia University and enlisted fellow inmates to launch gun violence prevention, youth mentorship and other programs while behind bars. He has continued the work since his release.
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Succeed Philip Marcelo twitter.com/philmarcelo.