Talk:List of longest prison sentences served

Booker T Hillery was granted medical parole on September 2018, which means his sentence is over by a certain user keeps saying that there is proof he was paroled yet here is plenty of proof.^[1]— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2600:1010:B156:B117:202D:9A36:A24A:C2D2 (talk) 20:12, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

New sections go at the bottom; don't put them at the top. As usual your link doesn't go to a page that has anything whatsoever about Hillery. And the statement that he is in a nursing home does not mean his sentence is over. When inmates have special medical needs they go where they can receive it. That doesn't mean the sentence is completed or that he has been paroled. Cite a source that specifically states details of his sentence. Otherwise stop edit warring. You are evading a block as College railman, Cadeken, and a variety of other identities. Keep this up and you're headed for another of many blocks. Sundayclose (talk) 21:00, 27 October 2020 (UTC)

I was looking through the various state DOC websites but Antonio "Tony" Wheat doesn't appear as an active prisoner in Washington state anymore. He did have a parole hearing earlier this year, but I can't find anything that suggests he was given parole. I suspect he was paroled or died and this didn't get much attention in the media - similar to Richard Robles being paroled earlier this year by New York. Skycloud86 (talk) 13:58, 19 November 2020 (UTC)

I've found a Facebook group and a GoFundMe that say he was released on the 12th, but I'm not sure if these can be used as sources.Skycloud86 (talk) 13:37, 20 November 2020 (UTC)

"Wheat is scheduled to leave Monroe and take his first breath of freedom in half a century on November 12, 2020." Seattle Met 4/27/2015 --Menah the Great (talk) 16:28, 21 November 2020 (UTC)

Thanks, I've seen that before but didn't remember that part. Skycloud86 (talk) 19:46, 23 November 2020 (UTC)

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/us/mccollum-brown-exoneration.html Menah the Great (talk) 03:16, 22 November 2020 (UTC)

John Norman Collins should be added to the list as he has been serving 50 years by now. Darren Cross (talk) 02:34, 25 November 2020 (UTC)

We should add the following people to the list

Including this man^[1][2][3][4]

Kenneth Nicely’s sentence started on 12/22/1958 according to this^[5]

Timothy Clark^[6][7][8]

Barbaro Reyes Cho (talk) 22:01, 20 January 2021 (UTC)

https://www.inquirer.com/news/joe-ligon-juvenile-lifer-philadelphia-incarceration-release-lifetime-parole-20210211.html Menah the Great (talk) 00:52, 16 February 2021 (UTC)

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Add wikilink to Joseph Ligon, as there is an article about him: Joe Ligon. IcedQ (talk) 13:05, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

 Done ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 13:20, 24 June 2021 (UTC)

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Change Rudolf Hess sentence duration from 21 years to 40 years. Hess was imprisoned within Spandau Prison from 18 July 1947 to his death on the 17 August 1987 which would account for 40 years rather the 21 listed between 1966 and 1987. This mistake is most likely due to the confusion of his isolation as the last prisoner within Spandau after the 6 other prisoners were released. Currently I believe it is Furthermore due to the aforementioned change this requires the information to be moved to the 40 years and above table. Larry The Third (talk) 23:33, 15 July 2021 (UTC)

 Done Hess was listed twice. I removed the duplicate with the shorter year. RudolfRed (talk) 00:05, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

Rodney Alcala just died in death row. How much time was he in there? Menah the Great (talk) 22:05, 24 July 2021 (UTC)

What’s with the description just saying “see above” for several of the solitary confinement prisoners?? ElleBlair (talk) 19:40, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

It means the prisoner is also listed in the list of total incarcerations.--Menah the Great (talk) 14:18, 16 November 2025 (UTC)

This man should be added to the Longest Spell on Death Row list.^[1]--73.235.180.215 (talk) 23:28, 6 November 2021 (UTC)

EDITORS: This IP is very likely a sockpuppet of Cadeken (talk · contribs), a prolific sock master who has edited this page and similar pages with numerous sockpuppets. Cadeken's IP socks, such as this one, are almost always located in or near Tulare, CA, USA. See WP:Sockpuppet investigations/Cadeken/Archive. Sundayclose (talk) 18:38, 7 November 2021 (UTC)

Warren Nutter died in prison on December 8, 2021, for whoever wants to make the change https://apnews.com/article/iowa-fort-madison-ac25c8267b2f9111f49cd8b96d85ac42 Lightiggy (talk) 22:49, 9 December 2021 (UTC)

I've done it. Skycloud86 (talk) 12:44, 10 December 2021 (UTC)

Why is David Berkowitz (the "Son of Sam" murderer) not on the list? He has been in custody since 1977 and serving a sentence since he pleaded guilty in 1978, over 43 years regardless of when you start counting. NYS inmate lookup: http://nysdoccslookup.doccs.ny.gov/GCA00P00/WIQ3/WINQ130 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.175.242.16 (talk) 03:05, 13 December 2021 (UTC)

Arizona Department of Corrections inmate been incarcerated since 1966 for murder. Needs to be added to the longest time served list.

www.azcorrections.gov

Inmate data search inmate number 027345 2600:1012:B110:F0E4:2558:FEDF:F86C:272D (talk) 13:47, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Sundayclose (talk) 15:41, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

Danny Ray Sharp has been in prison since May 31, 1977 http://kool.corrections.ky.gov/KOOL/Details/10360 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:2C2:400:35A0:404F:E35E:F2E4:D1C (talk) 21:59, 31 January 2022 (UTC)

Sammie Robinson went to prison in 1953 and died in 2020. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/lester-holt-what-i-learned-spending-two-nights-maximum-security-n1050286 Lightiggy (talk) 02:27, 8 February 2022 (UTC)

Where are the Manson women? Shouldn't they be listed? Joseph A. Spadaro (talk) 05:24, 28 May 2022 (UTC)

Why is Sundiata Acoli still listed as serving his sentence when he was released? 2601:206:301:6300:ECC3:84ED:8492:9F7 (talk) 22:02, 18 July 2022 (UTC)

where does it say he served 46 years in solitary? Most sources that I can find say that he did 7 years solitary and was then sent to Montelupo asylum, with no indication that he was in solitary confinement after the initial 7 yrs. Source in Italian Sheila1988 (talk) 15:01, 5 August 2022 (UTC)

There's a list of exonerated people at https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/longestincarceration.aspx, some of whom spent over forty years in prison. I'm not sure if they should be added or not (if they aren't already included), but ti would mean potentially adding thirteen people to the page. Skycloud86 (talk) 15:26, 9 September 2022 (UTC)

Earl Inge and John McHugh in the 40-49 year section should be moved up on the list as their terms are longer than ones who are currently above them so I am going to move them to their correct spots in between Richard Palumbo and William Pierce, Jr. --Poop Pee Barf (talk) 18:58, 14 September 2022 (UTC)

I am uneasy about having a catch-all  United Kingdom to cover British prisoners in this list. Scotland has its own legal system with its own laws and prison system. Perhaps it would be better to use  Scotland and  England, to cover England and Wales? John (talk) 19:25, 24 October 2022 (UTC)

I agree, especially as the countries of the UK are often separated in other articles for various reasons, such as for sports. Skycloud86 (talk) 18:03, 30 October 2022 (UTC)

I am neutral on the question of whether to have a UK catch-all or not. However:

• The current situation, with one of the prisoners (Robert Mone) listed as "Scotland" and all the others as "UK", is messy. Consistency is needed. For the time being, I will change this one to UK. This can be put back if and when they are all changed.
• I am strongly opposed to the use of the flag of England alone to represent England and Wales. I can see that having an "England and Wales" category could make sense, if the two countries share a prison system and prisoners can get moved between the two countries within this system. But both flags would be needed:  England and  Wales.

Incidentally, my second point is based on the commonly understood meanings of the flags, rather than their pictorial content. For as long as the article uses a single UK category, this is most clearly communicated by using  United Kingdom by itself (as at present), even though the exclusion of Wales from the flag's design is controversial.

--Dani di Neudo (talk) 22:48, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

I agree with Dani on all of this, though I would put the flag icons together, and link to either England and Wales or His Majesty's Prison Service, as so:

England and Wales

And yes, that second link option would imply that we should change the current country links to links to the respective prison systems. Possibly better to consider as a separate issue later. — HTGS (talk) 23:57, 12 December 2022 (UTC)

I agree that putting the flags together would make sense. (I didn't realise that there was a template set up to help achieve this conveniently.) But I still remain neutral on the main question that is posed here. --Dani di Neudo (talk) 22:53, 16 December 2022 (UTC)

I looked on the California DOC website inmate search, but he's no longer listed. I'm unable to find anything as to why.Skycloud86 (talk) 21:01, 25 January 2023 (UTC)

Cindy White has been incarcerated since 5/21/1976 — almost 47-years. It’s a controversial case and worthy of including in this list. 2600:1700:D670:ADF0:4009:E600:B215:6ED0 (talk) 00:16, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

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James "Jimmy" Nelson is currently serving a life sentence in the South Dakota State Penitentiary and has been incarcerated at the SD Penitentiary since June 10, 1963, and is currently over 60 consecutive years. He is serving for the January 1963 murder of his friend in a plot to collect double indemity from a life insurance policy on the victim due to "accidental" death. JDBent (talk) 03:13, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Cannolis (talk) 03:21, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

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Booker T. Hillery died on January 16 2023 so his section should be updated. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257094928/booker-t.-hillery Firemancer6723 (talk) 00:16, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Find a grave is not a reliable source as it is user generated see also WP:RSP Lightoil (talk) 08:09, 7 September 2023 (UTC)

North Dakotas longest serving inmate. 40 years. I believe he qualifies to be added to this page. I am a very inexperienced editor so I posted to talk page if someone wants to verify.

^[1]

^[2]

Nundahl24 (talk) 17:18, 30 September 2023 (UTC)

Larry Ranes is not serving his sentence anymore according to both his article and the state inmate locator website. It says he was discharged on November 12th and it does not say whether he died or was released but either way he is no longer serving his sentence so can someone please update this article? Startrain844 (talk) 23:19, 2 December 2023 (UTC)

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In the list of UK prison sentences, is it worth adding a footnote about John Cox, who was sentenced to Detention at Her Majesty's Pleasure on 26th July 1862, having been found Not Guilty on grounds of insanity of the charge of murdering of Adam Stapleton Puckett (see for example London Atlas of 2 August 1862), and died at Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum (as it was then known) some time in the week 11-15 November 1918 (see Birmingham Daily Gazette for 16 November 1918). He was therefore locked up for 56 years and about 108 days, probably longer than anyone else in British legal history. What made this murder particularly infamous at the time was that Adam Puckett was the doctor caring for John Cox at the time, and that after beating him to death, John Cox got a saw and sawed off Mr Puckett's head, one foot, and one hand, and chucked them over the garden wall into the road. He said to the police after his arrest that the head made a sound "like a damn'd old pumpkin". 87.115.248.170 (talk) 15:35, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Deltaspace⁴² (talk • contribs) 16:05, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

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It is out of date. Startrain844 (talk) 16:58, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. Shadow311 (talk) 17:04, 10 January 2024 (UTC)

Larry Ranes is dead now according to his article so his sentence is no longer ongoing and Booker T hillery is also dead according to Vasquez v. Hillery.--Startrain844 (talk) 20:19, 11 January 2024 (UTC)

As the article keeps growing, it also becomes more difficult to edit and read. Given that its purpose is to list the longest prison sentences ever, it doesn't make a lot of sense to list people who have served twenty years less than them. Additionally, this section never showed less than 44 years in prison and was the only one not representing a ten year span like the others, as a result. For the time being I will leave the lists about solitary confinement and death row, however.Menah the Great (talk) 23:49, 18 October 2024 (UTC)

Some ongoing sentences that might reach over 50 years in the future and would be added by then are the following:

More information Name, Sentence start ...

Name	Sentence start	Sentence end	Sentence duration	Country	Description
John Shaw	September 26, 1976	ongoing	49 years, 236 days	Ireland	English national who, aged 29, abducted, raped, tortured and murdered two Irish women, Elizabeth Plunkett (22) in Wicklow and Mary Duffy (24) in Mayo. His accomplice Geoffrey Evans was imprisoned from 1976 until his death in 2012.[1][2]
William H Matthews	February 4, 1977	ongoing	49 years, 105 days	United States	Convicted in New Jersey of raping and murdering a 20-year-old college student a month before she was due to be married.[3]
Richard Tobias Delage	April 18, 1977	ongoing	49 years, 32 days	United States	Convicted of the murders of two university students committed in 1960 and 1969, respectively, he remains a suspect in a similar double murder in Pennsylvania for which he was never charged.[4]
Leonard Peltier	1977	ongoing	47 years	United States	American Indian Movement activist; convicted of killing two Federal agents in 1975. Escaped & recaptured in 1979. Last denied clemency in 2017, and scheduled for release no earlier than 2035.
Robert Maudsley	1977	ongoing	47 years	United Kingdom	Serial killer
Freddy Horion	1979	ongoing	46 years, 328 days	Belgium	Convicted for 6 murders.[5][6]

Close

In his article, Jeff Fort is said to have been placed in solitary in the early 2000s, but the sources given are dead (and don't appear to have been good to begin with). Can someone check this case for inclusion? Menah the Great (talk) 17:33, 21 October 2024 (UTC)

According to the Arkansas DOC, Jones is no longer listed as an inmate. I can't find any further information, but as he was elderly I assume he has died. Skycloud86 (talk) 15:46, 28 October 2024 (UTC)

According to the New Hampshire DOC, Bourque is no longer listed as an inmate, and I can't find any information. He was in his late eighties so I assume he has died. Skycloud86 (talk) 14:52, 21 January 2025 (UTC)

Find notable sources then to prove that claim. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 20:59, 6 January 2026 (UTC)

I have removed Walter Boroque as there is such little information about him and when he passed or was released. If anyone can find a source confirming his precise date of release/death then please do. So far a search of the web only produces secondary sources of fairly poor quality - not suitable for wikipedia.BlunanNation (talk) 10:07, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Wouldn't that also count for most of these guys? KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 12:36, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

Also btw, I found 12 sources and although most of those circulate to the crime, I have found one made in 2005, detailing what he did in prison. I can link you the draft if you want to see it. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 12:39, 30 March 2026 (UTC)

@BlunanNation@Kreamymate@Skycloud86 Would it be possible to re-add him to the list, but with an approximate date if there is one? EaglesFan37 (talk) 04:33, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

I do have this https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/2004/07/06/n-h-inmate-plans-to/51208657007/?gnt-cfr=1&gca-cat=p&gca-uir=true&gca-epti=z113201e005300v113201d--36--b--36--&gca-ft=212&gca-ds=sophi KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 14:36, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

@Kreamymate This source , while not reliable for wikipedia, does confirm that the New Hampshire Department of Corrections still had him listed as incarcerated in April 2017 (which would mean he served at least 61 years and 5 months in prison). EaglesFan37 (talk) 17:21, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Okay then. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 17:28, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

I'm not familiar with the US / New Hampshire government systems, but is there any way of requesting information from the Department of Corrections for NH in regards to this person? Asking when they were released or died? BlunanNation (talk) 09:38, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

https://www.corrections.nh.gov/resources/news-and-public-information I belive there is a way. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 10:36, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I have found a talk page message from the article I made here. Although it isn't for our standards he is dead. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 13:45, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

@BlunanNation@EaglesFan37@Skycloud86 Notifying you guys for this. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 13:49, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

This is great. Just seen the talk page with the response from the DoC. Is there anyway to either get this information published so can be used as a source on Wikipedia? BlunanNation (talk) 14:07, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

Hopefully given it all. KreamoNoBrainos/Kreamy/Fat Man (talk) 14:30, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

I've readded the entry. This source is more then sufficient. BlunanNation (talk) 15:54, 10 April 2026 (UTC)

This should work! EaglesFan37 (talk) 17:04, 8 April 2026 (UTC)

https://www.mlive.com/politics/2025/07/gov-whitmer-grants-pardons-commutes-sentences-of-4-serving-life-terms.html

Can someone write profiles for William Hunt and Patrick McNamee? Lightiggy (talk) 21:09, 14 July 2025 (UTC)

I found some possible new entries for the list:

Ondina Williams:

John D. Thomas:

Junias Benjamin:

Boast Laster: EaglesFan37 (talk) 17:52, 31 March 2026 (UTC)

Edward Lee Williams:

Bernard Richard Hickman: EaglesFan37 (talk) 02:22, 4 April 2026 (UTC)

David Jarrell: EaglesFan37 (talk) 00:38, 8 May 2026 (UTC)