Exonerated Broward man receives $1.7M after serving 34 years for crime he didn’t commit
Sidney Holmes has received $1.7 million in compensation from the State of Florida for a wrongful conviction that led to him serving 34 years in jail.
By Michael Hudak, Matthew Garcia
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POMPANO BEACH, Florida (WSVN) — A Broward County man has received $1.7 million in compensation from the State of Florida for a wrongful conviction that led to him serving 34 years in jail.
Fifty-nine-year-old Sidney Holmes was released from prison in 2023 after initially being sentenced to 400 years in prison.
On Wednesday, two years after being released, Holmes has accepted $1.7 million after the State of Florida admitted he was wrongfully convicted for a crime he did not commit.
“There’s no evidence tying Mr. Holmes to the robbery other than the flawed identification of him as a suspect,” an attorney told the court when he was exonerated.
In June 1988, Holmes was arrested and charged for an armed robbery that happened outside of a convenience store in a part of unincorporated Broward County. At the time, Holmes said he was never at that store.
Speaking with 7News at his home in Pompano Beach, Holmes said he had a solid alibi for that day.
Authorities, however, identified Holmes as a suspect based on his vehicle.
“Looking for a car that fit the description of the robbery. They kept chasing and finding, it kept giving my tag number,” Holmes said of authorities’ investigation.
He said that’s when detectives came to visit him.
“So my tag was ultimately given to them, they came to visit me, asking, ‘Do you know anything about a robbery?’ I told them, ‘I know nothing about no robberies,’” Holmes said.
Before they left, officers asked if they could take a photo of Holmes.
“‘Can we take a picture of you?’ I volunteered and took a picture ’cause I haven’t done anything, but Oct. 6, 1988 I was arrested for armed robbery,” said Holmes.
He said it was Father’s Day when the robbery happened, and he had spent that entire day with his father and family celebrating the holiday.
“I was at my parents’ house for Father’s Day, celebrating Father’s Day with my father. I remember like yesterday; I was driving down the street on a go-cart, playing around with the kids the whole day,” said Holmes
Despite being innocent, he was found guilty and sentenced to 400 years in prison.
Thirty-four years later, in 2023, he walked out of jail as a free man.
Now, Holmes looks to rebuild his life with some help from the state.
Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill that would provide Holmes with a waiver covering 120 credit hours of college and career center tuition and fees and $50,000 for each year he served, which amounts to $1.7 million in compensation.
“What are you going to do? Are you going to invest it?” 7News’ Michael Hudak asked Holmes.
“Oh, there’s no doubt I’m going to invest it, ’cause I’ll be 60 years old in December. I have no Social Security, I have no retirement, I have no 401K,” said Holmes. “A lot of people think $1.7 million is a lot of money. It’s not a lot of money, if you’re irresponsible. If you’re irresponsible, it’ll be gone in the blink of an eye.”
Holmes went on to say no amount of money will buy the decades he lost with his family while serving time in jail for a crime he never committed.
“Well, no amount of money could ever make up as the retribution for those amount of years,” he said. “I lost my father, I lost my grandmother, and I lost raising my daughter. My daughter will be 37 years old, and I did 34 in there. Money could never buy time.”
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