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Kenneth Blackshaw, second from left, sits with his attorneys Jacqueline Greene and Terry Gilbert Wednesday. He was freed from prison during a hearing.

(Eric Heisig/cleveland.com)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cleveland man was released from prison Wednesday after serving more than two years in a case built by three corrupt East Cleveland police officers.

Kenneth Blackshaw, 50, was still clad in an orange prison jumpsuit during the hearing in front of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Maureen Clancy. He said little more than "thank you" during the five-minute hearing where the judge vacated his drug-trafficking conviction.

Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty noted that police found drugs when investigating the case but told the judge that the office "has no case at this point." Blackshaw's charges were dismissed with prejudice, which means they cannot re-try him for the same incident at a later date.

"Our officers, our witnesses were in the wrong," McGinty said. "Our evidence is unusable and we seek justice which is the release of this individual."

Attorney Terry Gilbert, who represented Blackshaw, praised the prosecutor's office and their willingness to work with him and defense attorneys to ensure that justice is done the right way.

"I think this is hopefully the kind of effort that will continue in the future," said Gilbert, a noted local civil-rights lawyer. "Because we know that nobody is above the law, especially police officers."

Blackshaw was arrested in 2013 based on a case built by East Cleveland police. Clancy in 2014 sentenced Blackshaw, who has numerous drug convictions, to five years in prison.

Sgt. Torris Moore and officers Antonio Malone and Eric Jones worked on the case.

During a search of Blackshaw's grandmother's house on East 85th Street, Malone also broke a padlock on Blackshaw's bedroom door. He then took about $100,000 in cash, and split about $30,000 of it between Moore Malone and himself.

"The public knows that the officers actually targeted Mr. Blackshaw," McGinty said.

The three officers have pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges for actions in investigating Blackshaw and other defendants., In several cases they filed search warrants with falsified information.

They will be sentenced in April.

Two other men, Hosea Lock and John Wallace, were also charged with drug trafficking based on the officers' corrupt actions. Their convictions are also expected to be overturned, though neither served prison time.

McGinty said after the hearing that his office also stalled at least two cases once it found out about the federal investigation into the East Cleveland officers.