Kenneth Windley walked out of a Brooklyn courthouse a free man on Monday after a judge overturned his robbery conviction. This decision ended a case that had sent him to prison for 19 years because he used a stolen money order to buy a stove for his mother. According to the Associated Press, prosecutors and Windley’s lawyers both asked the court to dismiss the conviction after new evidence emerged. This evidence supported Windley’s claim that he did not take part in the robbery in 2005.
Windley, 61, had been serving a sentence of 20 years to life after his conviction in 2007 related to the robbery of Gerald Ross. Ross, a 70-year-old man, was attacked after visiting a bank and post office.
Prosecutors stated that two men followed Ross home, put him in a chokehold, and stole money orders, cash, and a bank book. One of the stolen money orders was later used by Windley at a Brooklyn appliance store to buy the stove.
From the start, Windley maintained that he did not know the money order was stolen. He informed investigators and later jurors that he purchased it at a discount from two men he knew in the neighborhood.
19 Years for a $550 theft he didn’t commit.
Kenneth Windley was exonerated and freed today.
Story: New York man freed after 19 years in prison for robbery he didn’t commit – Newsday https://t.co/xVYqlhLTrF #innocence #exonerated #wrongfulconvictions pic.twitter.com/ztKK5z6f1X
— Katt (@KattN0tWilliams) March 16, 2026
They told him they could not use it for a car payment, so they offered it to him instead. Windley claimed the men went with him to the store while he made the purchase. The Kings County District Attorney’s Conviction Review Unit found that this testimony was supported by details from the appliance store transaction and new statements from the actual robbers.
Evidence from the store became crucial in the review. The district attorney’s public memo said the assistant manager testified that Windley arrived with two other men, looked at stoves with them, and went to the counter together.
During cross-examination, the witness said he could not remember who handed over the money order. One of the men explained that the money order was meant for a car payment but was instead being used to buy Windley’s mother a stove. Prosecutors indicated that if jurors had known more about the two suspects later identified in the case, that testimony would have supported Windley’s version of events.
“We have the most active [Conviction Review Unit] in the country, and we intend to continue leading the way by overturning any miscarriage of justice we discover in Brooklyn.”
Read more in @Newsday: https://t.co/vfLna4joxK pic.twitter.com/wyB5kv3aSb
— Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez (@BrooklynDA) March 16, 2026
The review also brought to light confessions from two other men convicted of similar robberies. Prosecutors noted that the new evidence showed Windley had been deceived into using the stolen money order and was not involved in the assault and theft that produced it. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez stated outside court, “Had we known what the evidence was, this case should have never happened.”
After the ruling, Windley told reporters, “It cost me 20 years, but they said they corrected it now. So that’s all that matters. So I’m good with that.” Prosecutors dismissed the case entirely.
AP reported that no retrial is expected because the statute of limitations has expired and Ross has since died. Windley’s release is another example of an exoneration generated by Brooklyn’s conviction review process, which has reassessed older cases involving disputed identifications and incomplete evidence.
Generally, DNA evidence has been in the forefront of overturning convictions with many notable cases brought by the Innocence Project.
