On December 14, 2023 Jimmy Soto and his cousin David Ayala were released from Stateville Correctional Center after a forty-two-year-long fight to prove their innocence. At the time of his release, Soto was the longest-serving wrongfully convicted prisoner in Illinois history. A Cook County judge vacated Soto’s sentence, stating that neither he nor Ayala received adequate counsel during the initial trial. Jimmy gives a detailed explanation of all the legal issues that were wrong with this case from the beginning and how it shouldn't have taken forty-two years to prove their innocence. Soto was convicted in 1981 after prosecutors said he committed a double murder of a young couple. Soto was convicted despite there being no eyewitnesses and no physical evidence tying him to the crime.
On this podcast Jimmy shares how life was growing up on the southside of Chicago. In a strong family oriented household were love and support for one another was a staple. He was always fond of learning, education and this helped him even during his time of incarceration. He ends up getting a job in the law library and begins studying the law for himself. He gains a reputation of being what some call a "jail house lawyer", but he prefers the term "prisoner advocate who fights for human rights." While incarcerated he helps many men get new trials, sentence reductions and some even get exonerated with his legal help. While he is helping others find freedom, he begins to fall into despair on why he can't help himself find the freedom he know he deserves and truly desires. He gets a letter in the mail one day from an unknown person, with a story that emphasizes that "God is always right, and always on time." Tune in to hear the rest of this amazing story and hope, faith and resilience.

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