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. 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. 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. 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. "Right now, everybody is saying, finally, there is justice for him," said Angel's younger brother, Saul Gonzalez, 34. Play Facebook 
 
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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. His family shares their reaction to the events. 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. 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. 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. 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. Gonzalez wrote to the Innocence Project for years before the group took his case in 2012, Potkin said. 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. His sister went shopping for clothes for Angel on Monday, he said. But Saul said his brother is now ready to learn from him. An ICE spokeswoman referred questions about Angel Gonzalez's future immigration status to Citizenship and Immigration Services, which was considering the question late Tuesday. 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
– 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.