CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A judge Tuesday cleared Ronnie Bridgeman of a murder that he didn't commit. The false allegation, however, cost him 28 years in prison.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Pamela Barker tossed out the 1975 conviction against the 57-year-old man who now goes by the name Kwame Ajamu. He was released from prison in 2003. Barker's decision comes just weeks after judges threw out the cases against his brother, Wiley, and Ricky Jackson.

"My battle has come to an end,'' he told Barker.

Then, he detailed what 28 years behind bars did to him.

"We were robbed,'' Ajamu said. "There will be no offspring when I die. When my brother passes away, that is it. We don't have children. There will never be another Ronnie Bridgeman. The important part is that we have been united while we are standing forward and upward and that we are not looking at each other in the graveyard.''

The three men were convicted in the murder of Harold Franks, a Cleveland money-order salesman. Wiley Bridgeman, 60, and Jackson, 57, each spent 39 years behind bars for the death of Franks at an East Side convenience store. They served more time behind bars than any other exonerated inmates, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

Jackson and Wiley Bridgeman were freed after the key witness in the case, Eddie Vernon, recanted his testimony during a hearing in Common Pleas Court last month. Vernon testified that he was 12 when he approached police and lied about seeing the attack.

In fact, Vernon wasn't even close. He was riding a school bus, but he said he did hear the shots that killed Franks at the Fairmont Cut-Rite on Fairhill Road, which is now Stokes Boulevard. Jackson's attorneys, Mark Godsey and Brian Howe of the Ohio Innocence Project, called other witnesses who testified that Vernon was on the bus with them and could not have seen the murder.

But in 1975, police and prosecutors built their case against Jackson, Bridgeman and Ajamu on Vernon, who said he simply wanted to help police. He said a friend gave him the three men's names, and Vernon told police he saw the slaying.

From there, he said, police fed him the information needed to convince judges and jurors that the three killed Franks. Two men attacked Franks, threw acid in his face and one of them shot him. They then stole his briefcase. A third man drove a get-away car.

Ajamu championed the causes of his brother and Jackson after he was released in 2003. The case against the three began to unravel last year after Vernon admitted to his pastor, the Rev. Anthony Singleton, that he lied.

Asked after the hearing what he would tell Vernon if the men met, Ajamu smiled. He said he does hope to meet him.

"I would say, 'I'm not angry with you,' '' Ajamu said. "I didn't believe Edward had any malice. He was a kid who got caught up in the wrong thing.''

He said he refuses to carry hatred, saying: "I can control how I feel, and I feel good. I do wish that day (of his conviction) never happened.''

The three are expected to file for compensation from the Ohio Court of Claims. Each could receive more than $40,000 for every year they were wrongly held in prison.

Last month, Judge Richard McMonagle threw out the charges against Jackson, and Judge David Matia tossed out the conviction of Wiley Bridgeman. Barker did that Tuesday for Ajamu.

In order for the men to obtain compensation, judges must rule that the three were wrongfully imprisoned. In court Tuesday, Mary McGrath, an assistant Cuyahoga County prosecutor, said her office will not object to the men's attempt to obtain compensation. She said they were, in fact, innocent. She said county Prosecutor Timothy McGinty called the three men "victims of a terrible injustice.''

Terry Gilbert, the attorney who represents Bridgeman and Ajamu, said he was stunned by McGrath's statements.

"I didn't expect that to happen,'' Gilbert said. "It was an amazing experience to see a prosecutor concede that the people her office prosecuted were innocent.''

Soon after the hearing, Ajamu thanked McGrath, lauded his attorneys and hugged Barker. He spent most of the morning in tears. Wiley Bridgeman was at his side throughout the morning, upbeat and happy for his brother. Jackson was not at the hearing.

"I feel vindicated,'' Ajamu said. "I feel free.''

He said he soon hopes to go to the grave of his mother, Bessie Mae Bridgeman, who died in 1990. He said he wants to talk to his mother about the struggle.

"If she hears me, and I pray she will, I will tell her about it,'' he said. "She walked the last days of her life in pain.''