According to the New York Times, Wright was convicted in 1991 of being the mastermind behind an extensive New Jersey drug ring and sentenced to life in prison. Wright always professed his innocence and claimed that there was severe prosecutorial misconduct during his trial. Wright maintained he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and his conviction was only based on an illegal search and seizure. He then studied up, learning the law and biding time for his appeals — and he represented himself the whole time. In 1996, Wright was freed on bail after the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office started investigating Nicholas L. Bissell, the prosecutor at Wright’s trial, and the way he conducted investigations and trials. A judge threw out all of Wright’s convictions in 1998 after a New Jersey detective admitted to evidence tampering.