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Arizona man seeks clemency from Trump administration

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PHOENIX (KYMA, KECY) - An Arizona man is continuing to seek clemency from the Trump administration in a wrongful conviction case.

According to the Arizona Justice Project (AJP), 49-year-old Joseph Fuentes is currently serving 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Last year, Fuentes submitted a presidential clemency application during the Biden administration, which AJP said then-President Biden "did not act on his clemency application before leaving office," adding that "Fuentes' application is now pending before President Trump."

Fuentes was 24-years-old when he was originally sentenced to eight years in prison, back in 2000, for a marijuana offense, AJP says.

But in 2001, AJP says a group of prisoners hatched a murder plot against another prisoner, Jesus Lopez-Rocha, who "had assaulted a teenage family member" of one of the prisoners. Lopez-Rocha was stabbed to death in May of 2001, according to AJP.

AJP says while Fuentes had a "strong alibi and no relatable evidence" tied to him, other prisoners named him as the "organizer of the murder."

As a result, one of the prisoners received a 15-year plea deal for testifying against Fuentes while another prisoner who admitted to their involvement was acquitted of all charges, AJP reports.

"The criminal justice system failed in the conviction and sentencing of Joseph Fuentes. We are hopeful that President Trump will exercise his clemency power, which is regarded as the 'fail safe' of our criminal justice system, to correct this injustice. Joseph was wrongfully convicted based on false testimony from other prisoners who received deals in exchange for their testimony against him. He became a victim of a court system that prioritizes finality over justice and has spent more of his life incarcerated than free as a result. We still have time to right this wrong and we will continue to fight for his freedom."

Karen Smith, Senior Litigation Counsel, Arizona Justice Project

Article Topic Follows: Arizona News

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Dillon Fuhrman

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