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Sidney Holmes to receive $1.7M after he spent 34 years jail term for crime he didn't commit

by KakakiOodua Media Services in Crime, International, Social

Sidney Holmes, a Broward County man who spent 34 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit, will receive $1.7 million in compensation for the time he lost. NBC6’s Daniela Cado reports

A Broward County man who spent 34 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit will receive $1.7 million in compensation for the time he lost.

Sidney Holmes was sentenced to 400 years in prison when he was 23 years old after being wrongly convicted of serving as the getaway driver in a 1988 robbery near Fort Lauderdale.

“I thought, you know, that was it,” he recounted. “I was going to die in prison.”

Holmes told NBC 6 he spent his first Father’s Day at home with his big family, and his then-7-month-old baby girl. Suddenly, the next thing he remembers is being taken into custody.

“I had no knowledge of a robbery and not anything… I was home,” Holmes said.

A jury found him guilty, and Holmes spent 34 years in prison.

Sidney Holmes, now 57, was released from prison Monday after more than 34 years behind bars.

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“I turned anger into success, I took anger and I educated myself; I got a degree, I got a theology degree, I got pr, legal service degree, computer certification,” he explained.

Decades after the guilty verdict, Broward County State Attorney Harold Pryor conducted an investigation into the case as part of his office’s Conviction Review Unit.

“The identification of the actual driver was actually broad, it was vague in a sense and really, the only identifying factor was that there was a yellow automobile and at that time, in the late 80s, if you look at the history of the yellow automobile it was the most common vehicle in the United States at that time,” Pryor said.

Holmes was freed in 2023, but received no compensation despite a Florida law that gives those wrongfully convicted $50,000 for every year spent in prison, and that was because of his prior criminal history.

A claims bill, however, was passed earlier this year, and on Tuesday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed and approved a $1.7 million payment to the now 59-year-old victim.

“There's no money… it’s not never going to be enough money in your lifetime to take up all of the memories. The time that you lost, I lost my father, you know, I missed 34 years of not being a son to my father because….I was his only son,” Holmes said.

Holmes is now turning his hurtful experience into advocacy, writing a book and creating his own foundation.

“I want I would like to advocate… tell a person if you're innocent, if you haven't done anything, never, just never get hold of, never give up,” Holmes said.

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