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Exonerees get veto on more compensation after bipartisan support.Exonerees get veto on more compensation after bipartisan support Gov.Landry vetoed SB 125 after passing legislature without opposition BATON ROUGE, La.(WAFB) - A bill to increase compensation for people wrongfully convicted in Louisiana was vetoed by Gov.Jeff Landry, despite passing the state House and Senate without opposition.Wilbert Jones was sentenced to life in prison in 1973 for the kidnapping and rape of a nurse in Baton Rouge, a crime he did not commit.According to the Innocence Project, Jones spent more time wrongfully imprisoned than any other known exonerated American.Jones was exonerated in 2018 by new DNA evidence.Since 2023, the state has been paying him $40,000 a year in compensation for the wrongful conviction.For him, that money runs out in seven years.“You should have some kind of compassion for people,” Jones said.“I don’t know what to say about it.It’s just devastating.” Compensation concerns “Ain’t no price on my life,” Jones said.“It could have been $20 million to bring my life back; they took it away from me.I’m 73 years old, and I can’t get that back.I don’t have no brothers, no uncles, no aunties.All that was taken away from me.I wasn’t there for them.” Mary Jones, Wilbert’s wife, said the compensation issue is compounded by other financial, social, and educational limitations.“They weren’t able to pay into the Social Security system so they are not eligible for that, so to not allow them to get as much as they can, it’s really egregious,” she said.Rickey Johnson spent 27 years at Angola, wrongfully convicted for rape he did not commit.Since getting out, compensation money helped Johnson start an upholstery business.“I come out of prison and now I have to go back into prison financially wise,” Johnson said.Veto and budget concerns Senate Bill 125, authored by Sen.Gerald Boudreaux, would have increased the compensation cap from 10 years to 15 years.In his veto, Landry cited budget issues as a reason for rejecting the measure, which carried a price tag of about $9 million over the next five years.Johnson said he is worried for his family.“I don’t know if I’m going to make it another 90 days in this business because it’s been very slow out here,” Johnson said.“I’m struggling.I got a family.It’s not good.” Boudreaux said he has no plans to work to override the veto.He said he will start working with charities and private businesses to help those he said deserve more.“Even though it’s disappointing, the same God that got us through that will get us through this,” Mary Jones said.Click here to report a typo.Please include the headline.Click here to subscribe to our WAFB 9 News daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.Watch the latest WAFB news and weather now.Join The Conversation We want to hear what you think.Create a free account to share your thoughts.Read our community guidelines here.