Last of the “Dixmoor Five” to be Released from Prison

Shainne Sharp, who received a 10 year sentence for a drug charge because of a prior conviction that was overturned by DNA, will be released from prison this month. The Illinois man was 17 when he and four other juveniles were convicted of murder based largely on their false confessions. Robert Taylor, Jonathan Barr and James Harden were exonerated by the same evidence in November and Robert Veal was exonerated the following month. Sharp and Veal pled guilty to the murder and testified against their three co-defendants in exchange for reduced sentences.

 

Sharp served 10 years in prison for the crime. But based on his presumed criminal history, he was sentenced to an additional ten years in 2009 for unrelated drug charges. At the urging of Sharp’s defense attorneys who cited the wrongful conviction overturned by DNA evidence, Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray agreed to modify Sharp’s sentence. Sharp, who is being held at Westville Correctional Center in Indiana, plans to live with his wife and grandmother in Illinois.

 

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