Kenneth Bullock was sentenced to 30 to 70 years in jail for a Detroit carjacking he claimed he did not commit. Bullock is now free, more than a decade after being imprisoned.
His conviction and sentence were recently reversed after another person came forward and claimed responsibility for the crime.
Several things led to his conviction. The National Register of Exonerations records that on October 20, 2011, a man stole Yulanda Russell’s 2012 Dodge Charger from outside her Heyden Street residence, according to Fox2 Detroit.
RELATED STORIES
READ ALSO: Man who spent 30 years in prison for double murder he didn’t commit freed
However, in January 2013, authorities learned that the stolen Charger was listed for sale on Craigslist as a 2011 model rather than a 2012. Undercover detectives went to see a man by the name Mike who had the car.
The vehicle identification number on the windshield was covered, however, the undercover police at the time found an uncovered VIN. Using that VIN, they learned that the vehicle was the 2012 Charger that had been carjacked years earlier.
Bullock drove up in a rented car during Mike’s arrest, claimed the Charger was his car, and provided police with a title that matched the fake vehicle identity. He was taken into custody as well.
Two days after Bullock’s arrest, Russell picked him out of a police lineup as the person who carjacked her. Despite concerns about the makeup of the lineup and Bullock’s description not fully matching the one Russell initially provided police, the case went to trial and Bullock was convicted of carjacking and armed robbery.
At Bullock’s sentencing, it was revealed that the owner of an auto collision business, who had not been called on to testify, said that he bought the car after it was damaged in a crash in 2012 and then sold it to Bullock.
However, the judge cast doubt on his reliability by pointing out that he failed to register the car with the Secretary of State before selling it and failed to disclose the profit from the transaction to the IRS.
Before finding out his sentence, Bullock told the judge that he was innocent.
“I know I have made some mistakes in my past,” said Bullock, who had a criminal record from a decade before he was arrested for the carjacking. “I never once seen this victim. I did not carjack this lady. I swear to God. I don’t know nothing about no carjacking.”
For the carjacking and armed robbery charges, Bullock received a sentence of 30 to 70 years in jail. He also received a 2-year sentence for felony firearms.
After years in prison, a convicted killer and gang member admitted to carjacking Russell. According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, Jamare Rucker confessed to carjacking a Charger, which was later used to carjack Russell.
Other evidence eventually indicated that another man engaged in Rucker’s murder had used a forged title to secure a clear title for the vehicle in Illinois. Bullock’s mother eventually received the car after it had been owned by a number of people, including one who had crashed it.
“There is no apparent connection between Mr. Bullock and the parties who orchestrated the fraudulent title transfers,” the prosecutor’s office wrote in its ruling.
Bullock’s case was dropped on May 28 and he was released from prison.
READ ALSO: Fighting for freedom after 3 decades on death row: the Pervis Payne story
