While the average time spent in prison for all of the exonerees in the National Registry of Exonerations is just over nine years, there have been some prisoners who spent an extraordinary amount of time imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The Registry calculates prison time from the date of conviction. Therefore, our calculations exclude time spent incarcerated prior to conviction. The following is a list of the exonerees who spent at least 25 years in prison prior to exoneration.
| Name | Time Incarcerated | Sentence | Incarcerated | State |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Stewart | 35 years, 5 months, 27 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Ransom Watkins | 35 years, 5 months, 27 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Alfred Chestnut | 35 years, 5 months, 27 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Robert DuBoise | 35 years, 5 months, 19 days | Death | - | Florida |
| John Floyd | 35 years, 5 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Joseph Pope | 35 years, 5 months, 7 days | Life | - | Massachusetts |
| Jackie Wilson | 35 years, 4 months, 16 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Edward Carter | 35 years, 3 months, 9 days | Life | - | Michigan |
| Kenneth Webb | 35 years, 2 months, 24 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| William Cascone | 35 years, 1 months, 27 days | Life | - | Massachusetts |
| Robert Melock | 35 years, 1 months, 4 days | Death | - | Illinois |
| Louis Wright | 35 years, 1 months, 3 days | Term of Years | - | Michigan |
| Albert Brown | 35 years, 0 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Massachusetts |
| Sullivan Walter | 34 years, 11 months, 30 days | Term of Years | - | Louisiana |
| Gary Cifizzari | 34 years, 11 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Massachusetts |
| Dwayne Brooks | 34 years, 4 months, 15 days | Life | - | Ohio |
| Maurice Hastings | 34 years, 3 months, 13 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Michael Hanline | 34 years, 2 months, 0 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Bobby Joe Maxwell | 34 years, 0 months, 29 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Darrell Siggers | 34 years, 0 months, 11 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Kash Register | 34 years, 0 months, 9 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Brian Beals | 33 years, 10 months, 18 days | Term of Years | - | Illinois |
| Sidney Holmes | 33 years, 10 months, 17 days | Life | - | Florida |
| Cathy Woods | 33 years, 9 months, 1 days | Life without parole | - | Nevada |
| Lewis Fogle | 33 years, 5 months, 15 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Benjamine Spencer | 33 years, 4 months, 12 days | Term of Years | - | Texas |
| Jack Sagin | 33 years, 2 months, 25 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| John Galvan | 33 years, 1 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Christopher Dunn | 33 years, 0 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Missouri |
| Kevin Bowman | 32 years, 10 months, 19 days | Life | - | Pennsylvania |
| Daniel Saldana | 32 years, 10 months, 12 days | Term of Years | - | California |
| Marshall Hale | 32 years, 9 months, 17 days | Term of Years | - | Pennsylvania |
| Paul Browning | 32 years, 8 months, 7 days | Death | - | Nevada |
| Theodore Jordan | 32 years, 6 months, 14 days | Death | - | Oregon |
| Edward Taylor | 32 years, 6 months, 13 days | Life | - | Florida |
| Curtis Crosland | 32 years, 6 months, 7 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Arthur Almendarez | 32 years, 5 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Francisco Nanez | 32 years, 5 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Keith Harward | 32 years, 5 months, 8 days | Life | - | Virginia |
| Peter Limone | 32 years, 5 months, 5 days | Death | - | Massachusetts |
| Paul Goodwin | 32 years, 4 months, 20 days | Life | - | Oklahoma |
| Ronald Johnson | 32 years, 4 months, 6 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Danny Burton | 32 years, 3 months, 4 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Derrie Nelson | 32 years, 1 months, 10 days | Term of Years | - | District of Columbia |
| Francisco Benitez | 32 years, 0 months, 13 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Gilbert Poole | 31 years, 11 months, 20 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Keith Bush | 31 years, 11 months, 13 days | Term of Years | - | New York |
| Paul Young | 31 years, 9 months, 24 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| John Huffington | 31 years, 8 months, 6 days | Death | - | Maryland |
| James Blackmon | 31 years, 7 months, 6 days | Life | - | North Carolina |