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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Melock | 35 years, 1 months, 4 days | Death | - | Illinois |
| Louis Wright | 35 years, 1 months, 3 days | Term of Years | - | Michigan |
| William Cascone | 35 years, 1 months, 27 days | Life | - | Massachusetts |
| Albert Brown | 35 years, 0 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Massachusetts |
| Kenneth Webb | 35 years, 2 months, 24 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Joseph Pope | 35 years, 5 months, 7 days | Life | - | Massachusetts |
| Sullivan Walter | 34 years, 11 months, 30 days | Term of Years | - | Louisiana |
| Jackie Wilson | 35 years, 4 months, 16 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Robert DuBoise | 35 years, 5 months, 19 days | Death | - | Florida |
| Gary Cifizzari | 34 years, 11 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Massachusetts |
| 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 |
| John Floyd | 35 years, 5 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Louisiana |
| Edward Carter | 35 years, 3 months, 10 days | Life | - | Michigan |
| Brian Beals | 33 years, 10 months, 16 days | Term of Years | - | Illinois |
| Dwayne Brooks | 34 years, 4 months, 15 days | Life | - | Ohio |
| Sidney Holmes | 33 years, 10 months, 15 days | Term of Years | - | Florida |
| Maurice Hastings | 34 years, 3 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Darrell Siggers | 34 years, 0 months, 11 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Bobby Joe Maxwell | 34 years, 0 months, 29 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Michael Hanline | 34 years, 2 months, 0 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Cathy Woods | 33 years, 8 months, 30 days | Life without parole | - | Nevada |
| Kash Register | 34 years, 0 months, 9 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Benjamine Spencer | 33 years, 4 months, 12 days | Term of Years | - | Texas |
| Christopher Dunn | 33 years, 0 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Missouri |
| Daniel Saldana | 32 years, 10 months, 10 days | Term of Years | - | California |
| Kevin Bowman | 32 years, 10 months, 17 days | Life | - | Pennsylvania |
| John Galvan | 33 years, 1 months, 14 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Edward Taylor | 32 years, 6 months, 13 days | Life | - | Florida |
| Curtis Crosland | 32 years, 6 months, 7 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Paul Browning | 32 years, 8 months, 8 days | Death | - | Nevada |
| Jack Sagin | 33 years, 2 months, 25 days | Life without parole | - | California |
| Marshall Hale | 32 years, 9 months, 15 days | Term of Years | - | Pennsylvania |
| Lewis Fogle | 33 years, 5 months, 15 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Theodore Jordan | 32 years, 6 months, 14 days | Death | - | Oregon |
| Ronald Johnson | 32 years, 4 months, 6 days | Life without parole | - | Pennsylvania |
| Francisco Benitez | 32 years, 0 months, 13 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| John Huffington | 31 years, 8 months, 7 days | Death | - | Maryland |
| Arthur Almendarez | 32 years, 5 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Francisco Nanez | 32 years, 5 months, 12 days | Life without parole | - | Illinois |
| Derrie Nelson | 32 years, 1 months, 10 days | Term of Years | - | District of Columbia |
| Paul Young | 31 years, 9 months, 22 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Gilbert Poole | 31 years, 11 months, 20 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| Danny Burton | 32 years, 3 months, 5 days | Life without parole | - | Michigan |
| James Blackmon | 31 years, 7 months, 6 days | Life | - | North Carolina |
| Keith Bush | 31 years, 11 months, 13 days | Term of Years | - | New York |
| Gary Washington | 31 years, 6 months, 30 days | Life | - | Maryland |
| Keith Harward | 32 years, 5 months, 8 days | Life | - | Virginia |
| Peter Limone | 32 years, 5 months, 5 days | Death | - | Massachusetts |