On April 23, 2025, ECBAWM client Sherrod Craft, who spent 24 years in New York State Prison, had his conviction vacated by Albany County Judge, Judge William T. Little. His release marks an end to his 50-years to-life sentence for a 2001 shooting that killed a young girl in Albany that Mr. Craft had nothing to do with.

Mr. Craft’s release comes after a key witness who had testified against him at trial admitted that Albany Detective Kenneth P. Wilcox, a corrupt police detective who notoriously fabricated evidence to obtain convictions and who was posthumously linked to an elaborated mortgage fraud scheme defrauding unsuspecting homeowners in the Albany region, had pressured him to incriminate Mr. Craft.

Mr. Craft’s mother, Arlene Brathwaite told Times Union reporters, “To see my son outside the prison wall, it just means everything to me… for many years, my dream was that my son was going to be released… I can’t wait to just [ ] put my arms around him.”

Mr. Craft is represented by ECBAWM Partners Earl S. Ward and Julia P. Kuan.

To read ECBAWM’s full press release, click here.

Press:

“‘Put my arms around him’: Albany man’s murder conviction vacated,” Times Union.