Uriah Courtney received a life sentence for a kidnapping and rape that he did not commit. Despite having a solid alibi, a remarkable series of coincidences put him on law enforcement’s radar. His step-father (Rick Gambino) owned a truck that looked similar to the one driven by the actual rapist. By coincidence, one of Gambino’s employees lived in the area where the rape occurred and just happened to be borrowing that truck at the time of the crime.

When the police came across the truck, they investigated both the employee and Rick Gambino. Neither one met the description of the actual rapist but there was a problem. The rapist bore a slight resemblance to Uriah and the police arrested him after a false identification was made.

At the time, Uriah worked for his step-father in a construction business. The two had a troubled history but Gambino knew for-a-fact that Uriah was innocent because he was at work during the time of the rape. Despite bringing that information to investigators along with a witness who was at work with Uriah, prosecutors did not believe him… and neither did the jury. He was convicted on March 15th 2006.

If it wasn’t for his step-father’s persistence and DNA recovered from the crime scene’s evidence, Uriah Courtney would have spent the rest of his life in prison. This is his story…

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Written by:

Laurence Colletti