CHESAPEAKE, Va. — After nearly three years in prison, Brian Faulcon reunited with his family in Chesapeake, following a conditional pardon from Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam.
“It’s beautiful," Faulcon told reporters Wednesday outside his childhood home. "It's wonderful."
In 2019, Faulcon, 37, was sentenced to five years for the armed robbery of a pizza delivery driver in Chesapeake nearly a decade ago. He was scheduled to be released in 2023.
Faulcon and his family have maintained his innocence and publicly questioned the circumstances surrounding his arrest.
His mother, Cynthia Faulcon, told 13News Now that DNA evidence did not link him to the crime, and her son rejected multiple plea deals.
"He believed justice would prevail," she said.
On Tuesday, Northam's pardon commuted Faulcon's sentence, effective January 12. The next day, Faulcon walked out of the Caroline Correctional Facility in Hanover, Virginia, and drove to his mother's home.
"We’ve been praying and praying for this moment to happen," said Cynthia Faulcon. "God is still in the blessing business. I’m glad to have my son!”
There was no holding back the emotions when the mother and son reunited. Brian can now hug his mother as a free man.
The governor’s pardon mentions the support Faulcon received. Thousands of people signed a petition calling for his release.
“Thank you, thank you for everything. All the support, the prayers. I appreciate every single one of them," Brian Faulcon said. "Thank you.”
The pardon is conditional, meaning the conviction remains on Faulcon’s record.
"We still have to fight for justice to exonerate his name to make sure this is expunged from this record," said community activist Brandon Randleman, who worked with the Faulcon family in this case. "If you believe in someone's innocence, you fight all the way to the finish line."
His family and supporters say they will continue to push to clear his name.
For now, Cynthia is glad to have her son home.
"I had some concerns, but I kept praying that everything would work out and that things happen for a reason," she said. “It doesn’t always happen when we want things to happen. They happen in God’s time, and it was just His time.”