A Virginia man whose murder conviction was overturned has walked free after 25 years in prison, including more than 10 years spent under a death sentence.
Justin Michael Wolfe’s release Monday brought an extraordinary legal battle to a close. Wolfe had once been only days from execution for the 2001 killing of Daniel Petrole in Bristow, Virginia. Judge Carl Weimer set aside the conviction after the sole witness who connected Wolfe to the shooting withdrew his testimony. Wolfe then accepted a plea agreement on marijuana and robbery charges, receiving a sentence of time served.
At 45, Wolfe spent his first hours outside prison embracing the ordinary routines he had missed: sharing pizza, running errands with his mother and making plans for a family meal.
“The thing I relish most is getting to know my nieces and nephews,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “I did 25 years for a marijuana case, something that you can go buy at the store now. I feel like I handled it as well as I could.”
Wolfe was 19 when the case began
Wolfe’s prosecution attracted national attention in the early 2000s, when authorities unveiled what they described as a major drug operation involving him and several other Northern Virginia teenagers. Investigators estimated that the group had sold as much as $10 million worth of marijuana and ecstasy. They spent the proceeds on luxury trips to places such as Hawaii and Atlantic City while presenting the image of an ordinary suburban life.
Prosecutors alleged that Wolfe recruited fellow young marijuana dealer Owen Barber to kill Daniel Petrole on March 15, 2001. Petrole had been Wolfe’s high school friend and drug supplier, and authorities said Wolfe owed him more than $60,000.
Court records say Barber later confessed to a friend, who contacted police. Barber ultimately pleaded guilty under an agreement that spared him a possible death sentence and received 60 years in prison for the murder.
Advocacy groups took up Wolfe’s case
A grand jury subsequently indicted Wolfe on charges that included capital murder. Although Wolfe took the witness stand and denied having any role in Petrole’s death, he was convicted in 2002 and sentenced to die.
Barber was the only person who directly linked Wolfe to the alleged murder-for-hire plot. He later repudiated his courtroom testimony, saying Wolfe had not participated in the killing and claiming that investigators repeatedly threatened him with the death penalty unless he helped secure Wolfe’s conviction.
Several legal organizations, including the U.S. Campaign to End the Death Penalty and the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law, joined Wolfe’s fight. Progress came slowly, however, with each legal advance requiring years of litigation.
Wolfe’s death sentence was overturned, but he still faced decades in prison
Following Wolfe’s appeal, a federal judge found that prosecutors had committed misconduct, overturned the death sentence and ordered a new trial. Barber, however, declined to testify for Wolfe because he feared doing so would breach his own plea agreement and expose him to another death penalty prosecution.
The legal dispute continued, and in 2016 Wolfe accepted a plea deal that removed the possibility of another death sentence but left him facing as many as 41 years in prison. The agreement also required him to apologize to Petrole’s relatives.
“I understand all the pain and suffering I caused,” Wolfe said while addressing Petrole’s family at his 2016 sentencing. “I know an apology is not enough, but I’m sorry.”
Virginia abolished capital punishment in 2021. Two years later, with Barber no longer facing the threat of execution, he signed a sworn statement asserting that Wolfe had no involvement in Petrole’s death. Two additional people submitted sworn statements saying Barber had separately told them the same thing.
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An appeals court criticized an overzealous prosecution
Last year, a federal appeals panel ruled that Wolfe had been the target of prosecutorial misconduct.
“Twenty-four years ago, the Commonwealth decided that appellant was a guilty man,” U.S. Circuit Judge Stephanie Thacker wrote in the unanimous opinion. “From that moment, the Commonwealth has done everything in its power to ensure Appellant dies in prison, eschewing the Constitution, ethical strictures, and Appellant’s own repeated and consistent assertions of actual innocence.”
Wolfe’s release this week came as part of a new plea deal in which he pleaded guilty to selling marijuana and entered a modified guilty plea known as an Alford plea to solicitation of robbery. An Alford plea essentially allows a defendant to plead guilty despite maintaining their innocence.
“The system is broken,” his mom, Steinberg, said. “What they did to him was cruel and unusual punishment, and what they did to the Petroles was just prolong their pain.”
New prosecutors say the resolution is an ‘appropriate outcome’
In a statement released Monday, Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Amy Ashworth called the resolution a “just and appropriate outcome” to a case that was mishandled by a previous administration.
“We recognize that people will have strong and differing views about this resolution,” with some believing it establishes Wolfe’s guilt and others his innocence, Ashworth said.
Petrole’s family says they will always love and miss him
Petrole’s family also issued a statement, included in the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s office release.
They asked for privacy and said they hope that now they “can finally begin to close this chapter and remember Danny for life rather than for the circumstances of his death.”
Wolfe is looking toward the future
Steinberg said she’s looking forward to healing, as a family.
Wolfe is facing an adjustment period. Simple things like being able to choose when to sleep, and showering without a correctional officer escort are novel changes after a quarter-century behind bars. But he hopes to eventually become an advocate for criminal justice reform.
“We just went to Costco, and that was sensory overload,” Wolfe said with a chuckle. “I’m going to get the hang of it. I’ll be alright.”
___ Boone reported from Boise, Idaho.
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