At Long Last ... Freedom for James Soto

After more than four decades, NPEP graduate James Soto was released on December 14 from Stateville Correctional Center.

James and his cousin, David Ayala, were fully exonerated from crimes they did not commit.

After getting settled, James plans on attending law school and working at a law firm. “I want to be able to be that lawyer that could help people just like me,” Soto told reporters when he was released.

Not even a month earlier, James was one of 16 NPEP students who were conferred a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University.

“It is a recognition of all of the hard work of Cohort 1 — we put in countless hours and even pushed ourselves through a worldwide pandemic to reach this pinnacle,” James said at the ceremony.