(NBC News) An Alabama man who has spent almost 36 years in prison after stealing $50 was released Friday under new sentencing guidelines that reset the state’s three-strikes law.
Alvin Kennard, 58, had been serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
But his sentence was changed to time served by Judge David Carpenter in Jefferson County on Wednesday. The state’s Department of Corrections had to process Kennard out of the system, which is why he wasn’t immediately released after the ruling. He was released from the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility, just outside of Bessemer, Alabama on Friday, the Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement.
