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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnny Small | 27 years, 4 months, 4 days | Life | - | North Carolina |
| Kwame Ajamu | 27 years, 4 months, 0 days | Death | - | Ohio |
| Larry Gillard | 27 years, 3 months, 22 days | Term of Years | - | Illinois |
| Cordell Williams | 27 years, 3 months, 18 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Gerald Reed | 27 years, 3 months, 16 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Cleveland Wright | 27 years, 3 months, 14 days | Term of Years | - | District of Columbia |
| Kevin Bailey | 27 years, 3 months, 12 days | Term of Years | - | Illinois |
| Frank O'Connell | 27 years, 3 months, 4 days | Term of Years | - | California |
| Donald Eugene Gates | 27 years, 2 months, 29 days | Term of Years | - | District of Columbia |
| Joyce Watkins | 27 years, 2 months, 9 days | Life | - | Tennessee |
| William Virgil | 27 years, 2 months, 2 days | Term of Years | - | Kentucky |
| Michael Anthony Green | 27 years, 1 months, 0 days | Term of Years | - | Texas |
| William Dillon | 26 years, 11 months, 15 days | Life | - | Florida |
| Charles Jackson | 26 years, 11 months, 12 days | Term of Years | - | Ohio |
| James Lee Woodard | 26 years, 11 months, 10 days | Life | - | Texas |
| Michael Evans | 26 years, 11 months, 5 days | Life | - | Illinois |
| Gregory Bright | 26 years, 10 months, 24 days | Life | - | Louisiana |
| Dwayne Williams | 26 years, 10 months, 20 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Jules Letemps | 26 years, 10 months, 20 days | Life | - | Florida |
| Edward McInnis | 26 years, 10 months, 14 days | Life | - | North Carolina |
| Armond McCloud | 26 years, 10 months, 13 days | Term of Years | - | New York |
| Louis Costilla | 26 years, 10 months, 4 days | Term of Years | - | Ohio |
| Joseph Rickard | 26 years, 10 months, 3 days | Term of Years | - | Ohio |
| Earl Truvia | 26 years, 10 months, 3 days | Life | - | Louisiana |
| Michael Austin | 26 years, 9 months, 3 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Felipe Rodriguez | 26 years, 8 months, 25 days | Term of Years | - | New York |
| Thomas Haynesworth | 26 years, 8 months, 1 days | Term of Years | - | Virginia |
| Evaristo Salas | 26 years, 7 months, 27 days | Term of Years | - | Washington |
| Leroy Nelson | 26 years, 7 months, 18 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Bernell Juluke | 26 years, 7 months, 18 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Kunta Gable | 26 years, 7 months, 18 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Willie Veasy | 26 years, 7 months, 18 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Maude Storick | 26 years, 7 months, 9 days | Life | - | Michigan |
| Johnny Pinchback | 26 years, 7 months, 5 days | Life | - | Texas |
| Eddie Lee Howard | 26 years, 6 months, 24 days | Death | - | Mississippi |
| Marilyn Mulero | 26 years, 6 months, 12 days | Death | - | Illinois |
| Clarence Shipley | 26 years, 6 months, 6 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Theophalis Wilson | 26 years, 5 months, 15 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Jose Cruz | 26 years, 5 months, 11 days | Term of Years | - | Illinois |
| Charlie Dunn | 26 years, 5 months, 7 days | Life | - | Tennessee |
| Raymond Jackson | 26 years, 5 months, 3 days | Life | - | Texas |
| Sherwood Brown | 26 years, 4 months, 28 days | Death | - | Mississippi |
| Robert Foxworth | 26 years, 4 months, 27 days | Life | - | Massachusetts |
| Kuantau Reeder | 26 years, 4 months, 25 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Ersan Yurtman | 26 years, 4 months, 22 days | Term of Years | - | Texas |
| Charles Chatman | 26 years, 4 months, 21 days | Life | - | Texas |
| Eric Misch | 26 years, 4 months, 14 days | Term of Years | - | Ohio |
| Joseph Carter | 26 years, 4 months, 9 days | Life | - | Virginia |
| Gary Lamar James | 26 years, 4 months, 5 days | Death | - | Ohio |
| Shabaka Shakur | 26 years, 3 months, 17 days | Term of Years | - | New York |