A California man was freed from prison after serving 23 years of his life sentence on a joyriding conviction, including eight years in solitary confinement for possessing a book written by the co-founder of a notorious prison gang
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — .Kenneth Oliver, now 52, was given the life sentence at 29 under California's strict"three strikes" sentencing law for repeat felons.
Oliver was freed Monday after Los Angeles County prosecutors dropped their objections"in the interest of justice," and after the state corrections department expunged his gang-affiliation record and paid him a $125,000 settlement for his time in solitary. Los Angeles County prosecutor Nicol Walgren said she was impressed by Oliver's rehabilitation in prison and preparation for a successful life outside. She called him the kind of prisoner that voters envisioned when they eased the three strikes law.
"I really haven't wrapped my head around it fully," Oliver said 24 hours after his release and after he and his father, a university dean in Georgia, celebrated with dinner at the Cheesecake Factory."I do feel like time has passed me by but I'm trying not to be negative about it."
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