I Was Falsely Accused of Sexual Assault — Then Wrongfully Convicted and Sentenced to 28 Years | Jarrett Adams

Locked In with Ian Bick

Ian Bick

Society & Culture

4.8 • 745 Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Jarrett Adams was 17 years old when he was sentenced to 28 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit. In this episode of Locked In with Ian Bick, Jarrett shares the full story of his wrongful conviction, his decade behind bars, and how the Wisconsin Innocence Project helped exonerate him and give him his life back. _____________________________________________ #WrongfulConviction #TrueCrime #innocenceproject _____________________________________________ Connect with Jarret Adams: https://www.instagram.com/jarrettadamslaw/ _____________________________________________ Hosted, Executive Produced & Edited By Ian Bick: https://www.instagram.com/ian_bick/?hl=en https://ianbick.com/ _____________________________________________ Shop Locked In Merch: http://www.ianbick.com/shop _____________________________________________ Timestamps: 00:00 Wrongfully Convicted at 17 — Jarrett Adams' Full Story 00:14 Growing Up in Chicago — The Neighborhood That Shaped Everything 01:27 The Family Background and Values That Kept Him Going 04:42 The Early Ambitions and Dreams He Had Before Everything Changed 05:36 The Night That Destroyed the Next Decade of His Life 09:00 How the Crack Era Shifted His Neighborhood and Changed His Options 13:37 The College Plans That Almost Got Him Out Before It Was Too Late 17:18 The First Accusation and the Police Interrogation Nobody Prepared Him For 22:08 The Investigation Tactics Used Against Him and How They Isolated Him 24:38 The Moment He Realized Evidence Was Missing and Justice Was Broken 27:30 What His Family Went Through While He Fought From Inside 30:30 How Wisconsin's Party to a Crime Law Was Used Against Him 33:20 County Jail — The Injustice That Started Before Prison Even Began 37:20 The Broken Bail System That Kept Him Locked Up While Innocent 40:53 The Trial Conviction and the Sentence That Should Never Have Happened 43:47 What the Public Thought of Him and the Cost of Being Judged 44:13 Prison Life and What Mass Incarceration Really Looks Like From Inside 47:32 Adjusting to Prison While Fighting His Own Case From Behind Bars 52:00 The Appeal That Finally Overturned His Conviction and What Came Next 54:49 The Struggles of Reentry Nobody Prepares You For After Wrongful Conviction 01:01:16 How He Became an Attorney to Fix the System That Failed Him 01:04:04 Defending Others Who Are Where He Once Was — The Full Circle Moment 01:07:46 Reflections on Purpose and What Has Actually Changed in the System 01:08:58 What He Would Tell the 17 Year Old Who Was About to Lose Everything 01:09:24 His Final Message and the Mental Health Mission Driving Everything He Does _____________________________________________ To advertise on the show, contact sales@advertisecast.com or visit https://advertising.libsyn.com/LockedInWithIanBicka Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:30.0	My guest today was sentenced to 28 years at prison at 17 years old for a crime he didn't commit.
0:36.2	His name is Jarrett Adams and this is his story.
0:43.7	Where'd you grow up?
0:45.1	Born and raised on the south side of Chicago.
0:47.4	What was your upbringing like?
0:48.8	So, you know, look, the neighborhood was tough.
0:51.8	I mean, it made no sense to sugarcoat and stuff like that. You know, a lot of the kids
0:56.5	that are glorifying, you know, the murders and stuff like that in Chicago, I mean, it was happening
1:02.7	in. It just was no outlet of no, you know, rap stream or anything like that to talk about it
1:08.6	and instigate it. But I grew up not too far away from Oblo, you know, on the south side of Chicago, right?
1:14.7	They were on the 60s and we were growing up in the 90s.
1:18.4	So with all of that said, I didn't really get in much trouble.
1:23.9	You know what I mean?
1:24.8	I was the youngest of a plethora of grandkids. And so I had the opportunity to see, you know, cousins and other close family friends and stuff like that get into, you know, the era of the drug era, man. And it just, it just really just changed the landscape of the entire neighborhood.
1:46.6	And it was, it was much more problems than Jared Adams in the neighborhood. So I really didn't,
	...

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