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Free for a year after 44 years wrongfully imprisoned, Ronnie Long is now fighting for others

It’s been a year since Ronnie Long walked out of Albermarle Correctional Institute as a free man.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s been one year since Ronnie Long was freed from prison after spending 44 years behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit.

There’s a pending civil suit against the law enforcement officers he believes covered up his innocence, but he’s focused on something else: helping others he believes faced similar injustices.

Long knows exactly how long he spent in prison. 

RELATED: Ronnie Long finally pardoned after 44 years

"Forty years behind the fence," Ronnie Long said. "Forty-four years, three months and 17 days."

It’s been a year since Ronnie Long walked out of Albermarle Correctional Institute as a free man.

RELATED: Ronnie Long sues Concord, detectives for 'systematically' suppressing evidence

"I take it one day at a time," he said.

At 65 years old, he says he’s healthier now -- he’s almost back at the weight he was when he was first sent away at just 21 years old. That’s in part thanks to his wife Ashleigh. They married while he was behind bars and now live together in the home they just bought. She makes him exercise and eat organic food. 

He's still getting used to it.

"How you get an egg without an egg white?" he joked. 

The couple does just about everything together, including Ronnie’s new passion: fighting for others.

"I'm an advocate now against injustice," he said. "I know what racism and supremacy tried to do to me, I know the mentality where they look at you and say you ain’t even human, you’re life don’t mean nothing."

Together the couple is working on behalf of Kendrick Johnson’s family -- a black Georgia teen whose 2013 death was ruled accidental. His family believes he was murdered.

"Why people can think their lives don’t matter," Ashleigh Long said.

"It's the same mentality that tried to put me on death row," Ronnie Long added.

He is also navigating a new part of the justice system -- he’s filed a civil suit against the city of Concord and several police officers involved in his case, saying they withheld evidence, lied on the stand, and helped hand-pick the all-white jury that convicted him.

Attorneys for the city of Concord and the law enforcement officers named in the suit deny those claims.

"Do you feel like justice has been served? No, no, ain't no justice has been served yet – til I bring all the other players to the surface," he said. "It ain't over."

Attorneys for Ronnie Long filed the civil suit in May and in August added new defendants to the suit – SBI agents – after attorneys say they learned they also played a part in the collection of evidence.

Contact Michelle at mboudin@wcnc.com and follow her on FacebookTwitter and Instagram.

WCNC Charlotte's coverage timeline of the Ronnie Long case:

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