A T&T national who spent two years in America’s notorious Rikers Island Prison without being charged was awarded US$1 million earlier this year, according to a New York Daily News report. Russell Hernandez was held at the prison without charge after refusing to testify against two members of a gang named Sex Money Murder. On July 4, 2004, two men tried to steal Hernandez’ car. He managed to get away but was stabbed in the leg during the attempted carjacking.
Police caught the men and Hernandez testified against them before a grand jury, according to reports. The men who tried to rob him allegedly were members of the gang, and Hernandez began receiving death threats. New York police arrested Hernandez in February 2006 for an immigration hearing based on a number of arrests in his past.
After his arrest, authorities brought a material witness warrant and took custody of him until May 2008, though they never charged him with a crime and never called him to testify again. “I sat in Rikers Island for two years and I wasn’t accused of a crime,” Hernandez said. “Nobody would believe me. The guards and the prisoners thought I was a spy or a snitch because when they looked me up on the computer there was no charge against me.”