Jan 6, 2026
Desmond Ricks spent 25 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before his conviction was overturned and he was released.
Following his exoneration, Ricks received more than $1 million under Michigan’s Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act. The law, which took effect in 2017, pays roughly $50,000 for each year someone is wrongfully incarcerated. The compensation is intended to acknowledge what exonerees lose while behind bars.
Advertisement
Ricks is one of 77 exonerees who have received compensation under the law as of July 2024. In total, Michigan has awarded nearly $52 million through these claims (1). But his attorney says no dollar amount could come close to repairing the damage.
“Desmond Ricks endured the worst harm and suffering you can imagine," his lawyer, Wolf Muller, told WXYZ Detroit (2). “25 years in a cage for a crime he didn’t commit. The compensation under the state, a million and a quarter, doesn’t come close to the harm he suffered.”
Now, the State of Michigan is asking Ricks to return that money. Here’s why.
Why the state is clawing the money back
The order requiring Ricks to repay his state compensation stems from a ruling by the Michigan Court of Appeals, following a separate civil settlement tied to his wrongful conviction.
That settlement came from the City of Detroit, which agreed to pay Ricks $7.5 million to resolve a lawsuit alleging police misconduct. Ricks claimed officers switched bullet evidence to frame him for the 1992 murder (3).
The case was reopened in 2016 after the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School uncovered new evidence. Tests showed the bullets recovered from the victim, Gerry Bennett, did not match the .38-caliber gun prosecutors had identified as the murder weapon.
Under Michigan law, exonerees must repay compensation received through the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act if they later recover damages from a third party tied to the same conviction. This process, known as a clawback, allows the state to reclaim money it has already paid (4).
Advertisement
Outside wrongful-conviction cases, clawbacks are more commonly used in corporate and financial settings, such as recouping executive bonuses after misconduct or recovering improperly paid government benefits.
Similar clawback provisions exist in multiple states, meaning exonerees who secure civil settlements are often barred from keeping both awards.
Must Read
- Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here’s what it is and the simple steps to fix it ASAP
- Robert Kiyosaki begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’ — says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year
- Vanguard reveals what could be coming for U.S. stocks, and it’s raising alarm bells for retirees. Here’s why and how to protect yourself
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
The unfinished cost of wrongful convictions
State Sen. Joe Bellino said Michigan’s clawback provision is intended to protect the Wrongful Imprisonment Compensation Act fund when exonerees later receive large payouts from lawsuits or other third-party sources tied to the same conviction.
He pointed to periods when the fund ran low as evidence of why lawmakers want a way to recover state payments once additional compensation is awarded. The debate extends beyond budgeting questions, highlighting broader failures in policing and prosecution that have contributed to wrongful convictions nationwide.
As civil lawsuits and multimillion-dollar settlements become more common, Bellino said recouping state funds is seen as a way to preserve the program for future exonerees rather than allow overlapping payouts to strain limited resources.
“The state isn’t a huge bucket to double-dip when there is a mistake made,” he said.
That framing often overlooks the financial reality exonerees face after release.
Advertisement
When Marvin Cotton Jr. was freed in 2020 after nearly two decades in prison, he struggled to secure housing and employment (5). He quickly burned through savings and relied on high-interest loans to cover basic expenses. Years removed from the workforce, lingering background-check issues and the absence of immediate income left him financially exposed at the moment he was expected to rebuild his life.
Advocates say Cotton’s experience reflects a broader pattern, even if the legal outcomes differ. Some exonerees wait years for compensation, others are denied outright and some, like Ricks, face clawbacks after securing civil settlements.
Nationally, nearly four dozen states authorize compensation for wrongful convictions, typically around $50,000 per year of incarceration. Still, only about 42% of exonerees receive any compensation at all, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center (6).
Mueller said clawbacks reduce decades of harm to a budget exercise and argues that civil settlements addressing misconduct should not be treated as interchangeable with state compensation.
“No amount of money can make up for harm of a quarter century and your entire adult life lost, so to say 50K a year was paid is peanuts compared to the harm?” Mueller said.
Article sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our editorial ethics and guidelines.
Exoneration Registry (1); WXYZ Detroit (2, 3); The Corporate Governance Institute (4); Propublica (5); National Registry of Exonerations (6).
You May Also Like
- Turning 50 with $0 saved for retirement? Most people don’t realize they’re actually just entering their prime earning decade. Here are 6 ways to catch up fast
- This 20-year-old lotto winner refused $1M in cash and chose $1,000/week for life. Now she’s getting slammed for it. Which option would you pick?
- Warren Buffett used these 8 repeatable money rules to turn $9,800 into a $150B fortune. Start using them today to get rich (and stay rich)
- Here are 5 easy ways to own multiple properties like Bezos and Beyoncé. You can start with $10 (and no, you don’t have to manage a single thing)
Victoria Vesovski is a Toronto-based Staff Reporter at Moneywise, where she covers the intersection of personal finance, lifestyle and trending news. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto, a postgraduate certificate in Publishing from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Master’s degree in American Journalism from New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. Her work has been featured in publications including Apple News, Yahoo Finance, MSN Money, Her Campus Media and The Click.
