RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Gov. Terry McAuliffe's proposed budget includes $1.3 million in restitution for a man who spent 29 years in prison for an attempted rape that officials say he didn't commit.
McAuliffe pardoned Michael Kenneth McAlister in March after another man confessed to the abduction and attempted rape of a woman in 1986.
The compensation is part of McAuliffe's $109 billion budget proposal and must be approved by the General Assembly.
McAlister said Friday that the proposed compensation is more than he had expected.
Virginia law allows exonerated former inmates to collect an amount equal to 90 percent of per capita income for up to 20 years of wrongful imprisonment, which would come out to about $900,000. But the General Assembly has waived the 20-year cap before.
