by TChris

As memorialized in the book Blind Faith, Robert Marshall was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill his wife. Robert Cumber introduced Marshall to a private detective who allegedly brokered a deal between Marshall and the hit man. Cumber was charged with being an accessory to the murder.

The charges were initially dismissed for lack of evidence. After they were reinstated, Cumber turned down a plea agreement that would have led to his release for "time served," giving him credit for the 18 months he'd spent in jail awaiting trial. In retrospect, Cumber must regret that decision, because he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

As one of his last official acts, New Jersey Gov. Richard Codey will commute Cumber's life sentence, freeing him after more than 20 years in prison.

"That's just unconscionable that here's the guy who did nothing more than let someone use his phone, and he gets life essentially," Codey told the Star-Ledger of Newark. "That's a terrible injustice — a terrible injustice — that I felt needed to be righted."