Brian Banks

Banks, an All-American high school football player, was accused of being a rapist by his classmate Wanetta Gibson in Polytechnic High School in 2002. He faced a possible life sentence of up to 41 years in prison. He accepted a plea bargain that included five years in prison, five years of strict supervision on parole, and registration as a sex offender. The Gibson family sued the Long Beach Unified School District, claiming the district was corrupt and was awarded $1.5 million in compensation in March 2011. Afterwards, Gibson contacted Banks and admitted that he had faked the incident. Banks secretly recorded the incident. Gibson refused to tell the prosecutor the facts and refused to return the money. With the help of the California Innocence Project, Banks's wrongful conviction was reversed in May 2012. The Long Beach Unified School District sued Gibson for $2 million in April 2013 to repay the $1.5 million she defrauded, and the district was eventually awarded $2.6 million. Banks briefly joined the Atlanta Falcons in 2013 and currently serves as a spokesperson for the California Innocence Project.