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   An Illinois man exonerated of an abduction and rape conviction that kept him locked up for 20 years was a free man Tuesday night after he was cleared of a separate property damage charge that had kept him locked up. 
   
   Angel Gonzalez, 41, had pleaded guilty to a property destruction charge stemming from when he destroyed the sink in his cell while he was in solitary confinement. That added more time to the sentence he was serving for the rape and abduction conviction that was thrown out Monday. 
   
   Gonzalez was released Tuesday night after the property charge was dismissed, Vanessa Potkin, a senior attorney with the Innocence Project, told NBC News. 
   
   Potkin said Gonzalez told her the first thing he wanted to do was "hug my mother and thank her for being there." 
   
   "It was very hard when you don't understand what is going on. She always believed in me," Potkin quoted Gonzalez as saying as he drove to his family's home. 
   
   Gonzalez's younger brother Saul said the wrongful conviction that took Gonzalez away hit him very hard because he the two often did things together. 
   
   "The family is so excited. Everyone is so excited. Everything is moving so fast. We haven't had time to think about this," Saul, 34, said in a telephone interview. 
   
   He said his mother, Maria, quickly started handing out tasks to everyone. "Go pick up this and go pick up fried chicken and fix this," Saul said, describing her orders. 
   
   Gonzalez also has two sisters, and Saul said he would be introducing his children, ages 11 and 5, to their uncle for the first time. "All the kids are decorating with balloons," said Saul, who visited his brother one to three times a month during his time in prison when he was old enough to do so. 
   
   Gonzalez was jailed for a 1994 rape and abduction of a woman who had identified him as her attacker. But DNA testing returned profiles belonging to two other men and did not connect Gonzalez to the crime. 
   
   The Innocence Project found other problems with the investigation and with Gonzalez's conviction, which forced a re-examination of his case and brought about the new DNA testing of evidence from the crime scene. 
   
   In addition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement canceled what is known as a detainer, which would have required that he be turned over to ICE custody after he finished serving his sentence. The detainer was placed on Gonzalez on Aug. 20, 1995. 
   
   "Since Mr. Gonzalez has been exonerated on all charges, ICE is exercising prosecutorial discretion and has canceled his detaineer," said Gail Montenegro, an ICE spokeswoman. 
   
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   The Gonzalezes are originally from Mexico. An ICE spokeswoman referred questions about Angel Gonzalez's future immigration status to Citizenship and Immigration Services, which was considering the question late Tuesday. 
   
   Although wrongly imprisoned, Gonzalez used his time in prison to educate himself and learn skills. He is an artist and mentored other younger prisoners and helped those who spoke Spanish. 
   
   "He was always studying in school and teaching other inmates," Saul said. 
   
   Saul remembered that about five years before Gonzalez's arrest, his brother also was teaching him. His fondest memory has been of the two swimming in Mexico and riding a bike, he said. 
   
   "He showed me how to swim and he taught me how to ride a bike," Saul said. 
   
   But Saul said his brother is now ready to learn from him. "I told him I drive a truck. He said, 'You are going to show me now.'" 
   
   Video interview by Telemundo correspondent Janet Rodríguez and photographer Cesar González ||||| Lake County prosecutors plan to exonerate a man who has spent 20 years in prison for rape and abduction, a move that would lengthen the list of the county's criminal convictions wiped away by DNA evidence. 
   
   State's Attorney Mike Nerheim said he will go to court Monday afternoon and ask a judge to throw out the conviction of Angel Gonzalez, who has been serving a 55-year sentence for a 1994 rape and abduction in Waukegan. 
   
   The crime involved two suspects, and DNA test results that arrived late last week showed the presence of bodily fluids from two men, both of whom remain unidentified, Nerheim said. The prosecutor said it was "very clear" that the evidence indicates that Gonzalez, now 41, is innocent and contradicts the confession he gave and the victim's identification of him as one of her rapists. 
   
   Gonzalez, who is incarcerated at Dixon Correctional Center in northwestern Illinois, was speechless at first when he learned last week that prosecutors planned to clear him, said Vanessa Potkin, an attorney from the Innocence Project in New York who has represented him with the help of the Illinois Innocence Project at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Barry Scheck, co-founder and co-director of the New York group, said Gonzalez voiced sympathy for the victim and said he hoped that the perpetrators would be caught. 
   
   Gonzalez has maintained his innocence for decades, Potkin said. 
   
   "He's obviously anxious and excited to see his family again," she said. 
   
   If Monday's court hearing proceeds as planned, Gonzalez's conviction would be the fifth major felony case to collapse in the last five years after DNA indicated Lake County authorities had put an innocent man behind bars. Gonzalez, who lived in Waukegan, was tried during the 22-year tenure of State's Attorney Michael Waller, who retired in 2012 following revelations that prosecutors had disregarded forensic evidence that contradicted their conclusions and worked to prevent men from walking free even after DNA had indicated their innocence. 
   
   It is not clear whether Gonzalez will be freed after his scheduled appearance in Lake County court. He is a Mexican national who had once obtained a visa, but that expired after he was arrested, Potkin said. Attorneys have been working to try to make sure Gonzalez can remain in the country if he's freed, Potkin said. 
   
   Deporting him upon his release would be "a huge travesty of justice," she said, since he planned to seek citizenship before he was imprisoned. 
   
   "It's only the wrongful conviction that makes his status in the country illegal at this point," Potkin said. 
   
   Gonzalez also was convicted in the late 1990s of criminal damage to state property and has not served his three-year sentence for that crime, according to prison records. That charge stemmed from an accusation that he destroyed a sink while in solitary confinement in prison, Potkin said. Nerheim said Friday afternoon he hoped Livingston County prosecutors would agree to have that conviction wiped away. 
   
   The rape victim, Nerheim said, was distraught to learn of prosecutors' plan to clear Gonzalez. 
   
   "She is completely devastated about this," Nerheim said. 
   
   On the night of July 10, 1994, the victim, then 35, heard the door buzzer at her home in Waukegan, according to court records and Tribune archives. She opened the door to two men and asked what they wanted. One of the men said, "You," and they dragged her to a sedan and drove away, according to court records. 
   
   She was driven to another location, pulled from the car and raped in some bushes by Gonzalez, she testified at trial. She ran and hid, but the second man quickly found her and raped her, according to a transcript. After the attack, court records show, she walked to a convenience store and called police. 
   
   Early the next morning, police stopped a vehicle matching the description of the car the woman gave and detained the driver, Gonzalez, court records show. An officer testified that Gonzalez matched the description the woman had given of one of her attackers. 
   
   The victim was summoned to the scene of the traffic stop, where she identified Gonzalez as her attacker as he was illuminated in the dark by headlights, according to court records. 
   
   "He was wearing the same clothes, everything. I recognized him immediately," the victim testified. 
   
   At trial, prosecutors presented a videotaped statement from Gonzalez in which he acknowledged participating in the assault but said he didn't ejaculate, according to court records. 
   
   DNA tests at the time on semen taken from the victim and her clothing were inconclusive. Despite his confession, Gonzalez presented an alibi at trial, saying he'd been with his girlfriend at the time of the attack, court records show. 
   
   Gonzalez, who had no felony record at the time, was found guilty of sexual assault and kidnapping, court records show. He continued to maintain his innocence, and a judge sentenced him to 55 years in prison, according to court records. 
   
   In the early 2000s, tests determined that some of the forensic material from the victim matched an unidentified man other than Gonzalez, according to court records. But judges ruled that the new DNA was not conclusive because Gonzalez said he did not ejaculate and could still could have been one of the two men who participated in the crime. 
   
   More recent DNA testing revealed distinct genetic profiles of two men, neither of whom is Gonzalez, Nerheim said. The identity of the two men is unknown. 
   
   Scheck and Potkin said the evidence against Gonzalez was never solid. Witnesses' identifications have been proven fallible, and some experts regard the type of "show-up" procedure by which the victim identified Gonzalez as unreliable. The lawyers said there were discrepancies between the description the victim gave police and Gonzalez's appearance. 
   
   Gonzalez confessed after some 13 hours in custody, Potkin said, and court records indicate there were also discrepancies between the confession and the victim's account of the attack. 
   
   Asked about her client's mindset, Potkin said Gonzalez "has kept his humanity and his hope and is so thankful." 
   
   Gonzalez wrote to the Innocence Project for years before the group took his case in 2012, Potkin said. Nerheim agreed to new testing in 2013, according to court records, and now plans to reopen the case. 
   
   Nerheim took office promising reform, and he's faced criticism for not clearing other people who claim innocence. Scheck praised the prosecutor for his plan to act promptly on the DNA. 
   
   "Lake County, unfortunately, was infamous for its resistance to ... DNA evidence," Scheck said. "This is exactly the opposite." 
   
   Tribune reporter Lisa Black contributed. 
   
   dhinkel@tribpub.com ||||| A Waukegan man walked out of prison Tuesday evening, nearly 20 years after he was convicted of a rape and abduction that authorities now say he did not commit. 
   
   Angel Gonzalez, who spent about half of his life incarcerated for the Lake County conviction, hugged his attorneys at the Dixon Correctional Center gatehouse before emerging a free man. 
   
   "I'm free," he said. "Thank God." 
   
   Lake County authorities cleared Gonzalez of the rape conviction on Monday after determining that new DNA testing of evidence eliminated him as the one of the two men who committed the crime. But he was not freed right away because he still had a property damage conviction on his record, stemming from an incident in which he broke a sink while in solitary confinement in prison, his lawyers said. 
   
   They went to court earlier Tuesday in downstate Livingston County, where a judge agreed to void that charge, paving the way for his release hours later. 
   
   At about 7 p.m., Gonzalez, wearing a new dark gray track suit, walked out into an early evening fog that shrouded the prison. After raising his arms with his lawyers and staff from the Innocence Project in New York, he appeared jovial as he spoke with the assembled media. 
   
   The 41-year-old Gonzalez thanked his family, his supporters, his lawyers and the criminal authorities who worked for his release. 
   
   Gonzalez said he had no reason to be angry: "The past is the past." 
   
   Angel Gonzalez Jr., of Waukegan, walked out of prison March 10, 2015, nearly 20 years after he was convicted of a rape and abduction that authorities now say he did not commit. 
   
   Now, he looks forward to learning and continuing with his hobby of painting. 
   
   "To be here today is making me feel alive again," he said. 
   
   Before leaving for the long-awaited trip home to Waukegan, he said that years in prison can make it feel like "no one believes in you." 
   
   One of his attorneys, Lauren Kaeseberg, from the Illinois Innocence Project, said: "He never gave up, and we've always believed in him." 
   
   Gonzalez's lawyers had argued that the property damage conviction, for which he received a three-year sentence, to be served after he completed his 55-year term for the rape, should also be wiped away. They noted that the property crime occurred when he was in prison for a wrongful conviction, and also that Gonzalez, who speaks limited English, pleaded guilty to damaging the sink without the assistance of an interpreter. 
   
   "Right now, everybody is saying, finally, there is justice for him," said Angel's younger brother, Saul Gonzalez, 34. "Finally, this is over." 
   
   Angel Gonzalez, who was exonerated Monday of a 1994 rape and abduction in Waukegan, was cleared of property damage charges and will be freed from prison. His family shares their reaction to the events. (Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune) Angel Gonzalez, who was exonerated Monday of a 1994 rape and abduction in Waukegan, was cleared of property damage charges and will be freed from prison. His family shares their reaction to the events. (Stacey Wescott, Chicago Tribune) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
   
   The family was planning a party with his favorite foods, like chile relleno and fish, to make up for all the family events that Angel missed, said his mother, Maria Gonzalez, 67, speaking in Spanish. Those included siblings' weddings and the births of five nieces and nephews, the family said. The children, the eldest of whom is 11, asked about their missing uncle at every family event. 
   
   On Monday, a Lake County judge vacated Gonzalez's conviction for the abduction and rape of a woman in Waukegan in July 1994. State's Attorney Mike Nerheim agreed to ask for Gonzalez's freedom after recent DNA tests showed that bodily fluids collected as evidence had come from two men, neither of whom was Gonzalez. Nerheim, who took office long after Gonzalez was convicted, said it was clear that this indicated he wasn't guilty and that two other men, who have yet to be identified, committed the crime. 
   
   Nerheim apologized for the case outside court, striking a markedly different tone than his predecessor, Michael Waller, who generally remained unapologetic in public as DNA repeatedly indicated he had sent innocent men to prison. Five rape or murder cases have collapsed in Lake County since 2010; DNA cleared all the men, but they spent a combined 80 years behind bars. Prosecutors under Waller, who held the office for 22 years, were responsible for Gonzalez's prosecution and three of the other convictions. 
   
   In several cases, the prosecutor's office under Waller fought for years to prevent inmates from going free after DNA had suggested their innocence, and his office attracted unflattering national attention as prosecutors proposed alternate theories of the crimes that many found implausible. 
   
   Nerheim took office promising reform after Waller retired in 2012. 
   
   Gonzalez's relatives said they never doubted his innocence, Saul Gonzalez said, but they wondered if they would see him vindicated after spending thousands of dollars over the years for his defense. Their efforts seemed to be wasted until the Innocence Project took over, he said. 
   
   "We were thinking when he went to jail it was a mistake and he'd get out," Gonzalez said Tuesday afternoon, as his mother proudly displayed early family photos. "But everything went wrong." 
   
   Saul Gonzalez worried most of all that his parents wouldn't live to see the day Angel was released. Their father, Angel Gonzalez Sr., 68, had a stroke last year after spending years working in a factory. 
   
   "I wanted them to see him out (of prison) before they passed away," Saul Gonzalez said. 
   
   He answered phone calls all day Monday and Tuesday, as family and friends from California and Texas reacted with excitement after hearing that the charges were dropped. 
   
   His sister went shopping for clothes for Angel on Monday, he said. 
   
   "He's kind of scared right now," said Saul Gonzalez, who on Sunday reassured his brother that his family will help him readjust to life outside prison. "He's seen many bad things. He says he's lucky he's not crazy. He says thank God for everything. He says he's lucky to be alive." 
   
   While in prison, Angel obtained his high school diploma and learned skills in electronics, mechanics, window-washing, construction and auto mechanics, his brother said. He also painted pictures, including a Mother's Day card with an iris set between two hearts. 
   
   "The hardest part is over," Saul Gonzalez said. 
   
   Following Angel Gonzalez's exoneration in Lake County, another issue threatened his prospects for immediate release: his immigration status. His lawyers said he had a visa in 1994 but that it expired after Gonzalez, a Mexican national, was arrested. One of his lawyers, Vanessa Potkin, from the Innocence Project in New York, said she was informed Tuesday that an immigration hold on Gonzalez had been lifted, allowing him to remain in the country as he seeks citizenship. 
   
   dhinkel@tribpub.com 
   
   lblack@tribpub.com
target: – A man wrongly convicted of rape is finally free after spending nearly half his life in prison. After hugging his lawyers from the Innocence Project, Illinois' Angel Gonzalez left Dixon Correctional Center yesterday with his arms raised, saying simply, "the past is the past." A day earlier, a judge threw out Gonzalez's conviction for the abduction and rape of a woman in 1994 at the request of state attorney Mike Nerheim. Though NBC News reports the victim identified Gonzalez, new DNA tests show bodily fluids related to the crime came not from Gonzalez but from two still-unidentified men, the Chicago Tribune reports. Yesterday, a judge waived Gonzalez's conviction and three-year sentence for property damage—the 41-year-old broke a sink while in solitary confinement, his lawyers say—allowing for his release. Nerheim apologized outside court, though it was prosecutors under his predecessor, Michael Waller, who secured Gonzalez's wrongful conviction, as well as three others that have since been overturned. Nerheim told the Chicago Tribune that the victim was "devastated" to learn Gonzalez would be cleared. The then-35-year-old victim was taken from her Waukegan home, put in a sedan, and driven to a location where she was raped by two men. Gonzalez was stopped the next day while behind the wheel of a car similar to the one she had described. In 1994, Gonzalez, who speaks little English, gave a statement to police admitting to taking part in the assault but said he didn't ejaculate; he has since maintained his innocence, and testified he was with his girlfriend at the time. A Mexican national, Gonzalez's visa expired after his arrest, but he's gotten the OK to stay in the US while he pursues citizenship, one of his lawyers says.