LEESVILLE, Louisiana — Rickie Johnson had spent almost half his life in prison when he was exonerated in 2008. Now 58, he struggles to make ends meet.
He has no health insurance; is ineligible for Medicare and Medicaid; and — with a quarter-century of work years lost — has no Social Security or retirement savings.
Johnson runs a leather shop in Leesville. He picked up the trade during his years in Angola State Penitentiary, where he spent most his time after being wrongfully convicted of aggravated rape in Many in 1983.
In middle age, he can finally spend time with the children he left behind as toddlers, and with their children. But retirement is a pipe dream.
Louisiana law allows wrongfully convicted people to petition the state for compensation — $25,000 per year for each year of incarceration. But the law caps the overall amount at $250,000. The money he received from the state is quickly running out.
