Sixteen years after the lies of a now-disgraced dirty cop helped put him in federal prison, Elroy Phillips will soon go free.
The West Palm Beach man’s long legal battle exposed a corrupt police officer who committed perjury on the witness-stand and was later prosecuted for misconduct.
But Phillips, who admits he was no angel and had a long, serious criminal history, has used the time he spent behind bars to transform his life, his attorneys said.
In prison, Phillips trained and qualified as a paralegal so he could work on his own case and help other inmates with their legal problems. He encouraged one of his daughters to become a prosecutor, rather than a defense attorney. He mentored other prisoners and worked hard to become a better role model to his own family. He has two job offers awaiting him.
“I am not the same person that you sentenced all those years ago,” Phillips, now 50, recently wrote in a letter to the judge who handled his case. “Whatever lesson there was for me to learn, or that you felt I needed to learn, I promise you I have learned that lesson and I have been severely punished.”
Getting Phillips freed was complicated by the fact that he was guilty of some crimes but the most serious conviction — for a crack cocaine conspiracy — was thrown out because of the officer’s lies.
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