At 22 years old, Alvin Kennard was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after he stole about $50 from a bakery. After more than three decades of being locked up behind bars, the Alabama man is now set to walk free.
The incident took place back in 1983 when Kennard was convicted of first-degree robbery after wielding a knife and stealing about $50 from a bakery, according to reports.
A few years before this happened, Kennard pleaded guilty to three counts of second-degree burglary in connection with a break-in at a gas station in 1979, AL.com reported. He was given a suspended sentence of three years and was put on probation.
Under Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act, more popularly known as the “three strikes law,” the bakery crime got him life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Back in 2013, the Alabama Sentencing Commission adopted new guidelines that allowed the judge to revisit the circumstances of Kennard’s case.
Carla Crowder, executive director of the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, represented Kennard at the hearing Wednesday, according to reports. She argued that if her client had been sentenced today, he would have received a maximum sentence of about 20 years.
During the hearing, Kennard told the judge that he deeply regrets the crimes he committed more than three decades ago, and, if released, hoped to work as a carpenter and live with his family in Bessemer.
An exact date Kennard is set to go home is still unclear.
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