Kansas inmate freed after doppelganger found 17 years later

In 1999 Richard Jones was found guilty of aggravated robbery and sentenced to 19 years in prison. During trial, his lawyer said his client was innocent and that a man who closely resembled Jones was the real culprit. It turns out the lawyer was right.

From NBC News:

In 2015, other inmates at Lansing Correctional Facility began telling Jones there was another inmate who looked like his twin. On top of being doppelgangers, the other man had the similar-sounding name of Rick.

Jones contacted attorneys at the Midwest Innocence Project and the Project for Innocence at the University of Kansas Law School. They tracked down Ricky Amos, the lookalike who lived on the Kansas side of town.

In booking photos, the two men looked nearly identical, with the same facial hair and cornrows. They are both close to 6-feet-tall and weigh around 200 pounds. The two men are also roughly the same age: Jones was born in 1976, while Kansas corrections records show Ricky Lee Amos was born in 1977.

After Jones was released, he met his 17-year-old daughter, who says this was the first time she remembers meeting her.

Above photo: Ricky Amos (left) and Richard Jones (right).