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Kansas dad wrongfully jailed 17 years for crime committed by lookalike granted $1.1 million in compensation

The actual culprit was found to be Ricky Amos, who not only shared Richard's light black skin tone and his signature cornrow hairstyle, but more crucially, also his name

An innocent dad who spent 17 years in prison for a crime committed by a doppelganger was granted $1.1 million in compensation by the state of Kansas. The 42-year-old, Richard Jones, was convicted and jailed for aggravated robbery in 1999 after eyewitness accounts affirmed he had stolen a phone from a woman outside a Walmart in Roeland Park, Kansas City, though he continued to insist on his innocence and appealed repeatedly for his release.

A series of incidents inside the Lansing Correctional Facility, where he was incarcerated, led Jones to believe he had a doppelganger who committed the crime. After enlisting the help of the Project for Innocence, they successfully tracked down the culprit, Ricky Amos, who not only shared his light black skin tone and his signature cornrow hairstyle but more crucially, also his name.