Wrongly convicted Va. man begins new life after he's freed in time for family Thanksgiving

NORFOLK, Va. – A wrongly convicted Virginia man is beginning his new life outside of prison in time for Thanksgiving.

Johnathan Montgomery was released from prison late Tuesday after Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell issued a conditional pardon. Montgomery was convicted in 2008 of molesting a 10-year-old girl when he was 14, but Montgomery's accuser recently recanted her story. Now 26, she has been charged with perjury.

According to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have only been about 1,000 cases of prisoners who were later cleared of all charges since 1989.

Montgomery told reporters Wednesday that he's looking forward to spending Thanksgiving at his father's home in Vale, N.C. He's slowly readjusting to life outside prison walls, eating hamburgers and sleeping in.