Innocent Man Befriends the Crooked Cop Who Framed Him for Drugs and Sent him to Jail

[Jabberwocky]

In Benton Harbor, Mich., back in 2005, Jameel McGee said he was going about his day when he was randomly accused and arrested for dealing drugs. McGee said the accusations leveled against him weren’t true, but unfortunately, no one believed him.

“I falsified the report,” former Benton Harbor police officer Andrew Collins said. “Basically, at the start of that day, I was going to make sure I had another drug arrest.'

Collins did as he planned even if it meant putting McGee, an innocent man behind bars. McGee served four years for a crime he didn’t commit and said he lost everything due to being incarcerated. Upon his release, he claims to only have had one objective.

“My only goal was to seek him when I got home and to hurt him,” McGee said.

Eventually Collins’ unscrupulous ways caught up to him and he served 18 months for falsifying many reports, planting drugs and stealing. McGee was later exonerated, and about a year after his release, McGee and Collins by sheer happenstance ended up at a faith-based employment agency where they now work together at a cafe in the same small Benton Harbor town. It was because of their cramped quarters the two had no choice but to hash it out.

“I said, ‘Honestly, I have no explanation, all I can do is say I’m sorry,'” Collins explained.

And for McGee, that’s all he needed to hear.

Collins, who was humbled by McGee’s forgiveness, said he was moved to tears.

“And I just started weeping because he doesn’t owe me that. I don’t deserve that,” Collins said.

McGee and Collins are not just coworkers or cordial, the two are now friends. McGee has spoken with several news outlets about his Christian faith and his hope for a kinder mankind. He uses his experience along with Collins to give speeches about the importance of forgiveness and redemption.




Source: http://www.vibe.com/2016/04/innocent-man-befriends-crooked-cop/
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCeG1223e1M

 

[ro4eva]

Wow; I guess I'm sorta tearing up after fully digesting this 'truth is stranger than fiction' sort of story.

Jameel has something that is SORELY lacking in our increasingly-greedy, stubbornly-capitalistic society: a selfless, empathetic heart of gold. And I respectfully salute him for his decision to forgive someone who didn't deserve so much as an inkling of it, and should feel extremely privileged for as a result.

And although I was moved by the crooked former cop's seemingly-sincere apology, I am not sorry to state for the record that I have absolutely no sympathy for his present quality of life, so to speak. And that's because I can't help but wonder about the untold number of lives his corrupted greed helped ruin. And furthermore, the amount of on-duty police officers like him who continue to follow in his despicable footsteps throughout the nation absolutely disturbs me.

P.S: Thank you for sharing this story, which I'm certain I shall fondly remember for some time due to its core message of hope and forgiveness with unique circumstances. Great find

 

[Jabberwocky]

McGee gets 4 years for a crime he didn't do while Collins, who habitually sends innocent people to jail, gets 18 months. That bothers me. What the officer did was a very serious crime and one of the worst violations a person can inflict on another. its up there with rape as far as the devastation it causes a person. It should be seen that way in the eyes of justice, since the goal is fairness.

 

[Jabberwocky]

McGee gets 4 years for a crime he didn't do while Collins, who habitually sends innocent people to jail, gets 18 months. That bothers me. What the officer did was a very serious crime and one of the worst violations a person can inflict on another. its up there with rape as far as the devastation it causes a person. It should be seen that way in the eyes of justice, since the goal is fairness.

What's even worse he doesn't even get any compensation from the government for being locked up away.

 

[slimvictor]

I agree that the sentencing and lack of compensation was very unfair.
However, the story of forgiveness is really amazing.
It takes a big heart to forgive something so terrible, but forgiveness is essential in order to go on living in a happy way.

 

[Screaming_Skull]

FUCK being friends with a guy who falsified a police report and made me loose everything! My god...and the cop only got 18months, COMPLETE BS...should have gotten 10 years at the least IMO, you don't fuck peoples lives over like that. Your their to protect and serve, not make yourself look better for catching more 'criminals' than the other guys in your unit....just my god.

 

[Jabberwocky]

FUCK being friends with a guy who falsified a police report and made me loose everything! My god...and the cop only got 18months, COMPLETE BS...should have gotten 10 years at the least IMO, you don't fuck peoples lives over like that. Your their to protect and serve, not make yourself look better for catching more 'criminals' than the other guys in your unit....just my god.

I agree. Not sure how the innocent guy was able to forgive.

 

[Mysterie]

people change, also i believe we are all worthy of forgiveness, how else can we move forward if we constantly carry our past?

 

[MrRoot]

"sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris."
U.S is the most christian country and it amuses that someone does as it is directed in the Bible?

 

[What 23]

I agree. Not sure how the innocent guy was able to forgive.

Because some people don't want to hold onto anger.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

^ you don't have to forgive someone to let go of anger.

i never understood why christians forgive such horrible crimes against them all the time...i think its more for show than how they actually feel....like the family members forgiving dylan roof after the AMU shooting...give me a break...someone just killed your whole family because of their race and u forgive them that same night?....just showing off to other church people to look righteous if you ask me