ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Nearly 50 Maryland lawmakers are calling on a state board to compensate five men who were wrongly convicted of crimes and spent 120 years in prison.
The letter, which was made public Wednesday, was signed by 49 members of the House of Delegates and sent to the Board of Public Works.
The board includes Gov. Larry Hogan, Comptroller Peter Franchot and Treasurer Nancy Kopp.
The letter says Maryland judges and prosecutors have found the men are innocent. Some petitions for compensation to the board have been pending without a response for over a year.
Attorneys have requested the state compensate them $100,000 for each year of incarceration, a total of $12 million.
The five petitioners are Jerome Johnson, Lamar Johnson, Walter Lomax, Clarence Shipley and Hubert James Williams.
