ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A man convicted of killing two FBI agents has been released from a federal prison in Florida.

Leonard Peltier was convicted after a shootout on a reservation in North Dakota back in 1975. Peltier said it was self-defense. His sentence was commuted by former President Joe Biden in January.

Forty-nine years later, people across the globe have held protests for Peltier. Some call him a political prisoner. His attorneys spoke in St. Petersburg Tuesday.

News Channel 8 On Your Side asked Peltier’s lead counsel Jenipher Jones what she would say to the families of the two FBI agents.

“I would say that the government bore the burden of proof to show, demonstrate Leonard’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. And according to the prosecutor, James Reynolds, they did not,” Jones said. “But we wish them condolences.”

She said decades of advocacy helped bring them to this moment. Jones’ co-counsel, attorney Moria Cohen, explained how every time Peltier went before the United States Parole Commission, they hit him with a 15-year delay.

“They did this, in spite of the fact that on several occasions, parole commissioners said things like if you were anyone else, looking at your record of service, it would be a no-brainer to release you,” Cohen said. “But we just can’t do it due to the nature of the offense.”

During trial, no witnesses could identify Peltier as the shooter, and court documents say the federal government withheld ballistic reports showing the fatal bullets didn’t come from his weapon. Attorneys said the FBI has been adamant about keeping Peltier in prison.

“The FBI has a very long but inaccurate memory,” Cohen said. “Even now with this commutation, they remain angry and convinced of Leonard’s guilt, despite the fact that the evidence of that guilt was primarily manufactured by their agency.”

We asked former FBI Special Agent in Charge Gil Torrez about the case, and if it was possible that the FBI got it wrong.

“It is possible, and the bureau has gotten things wrong in the past,” Torrez said. “But that I know of, it never even got close to that. It has always been that Mr. Peltier was the guilty party of that killing.”

News Channel 8 On Your Side told Torrez about the evidence that’s been introduced in the case. He said to let the courts decide.

“Until a judge drops that gavel and says you have been exonerated or no, you’re not, I think I’ll wait for that to happen. For now, he was the one who was convicted for this crime,” Torrez said.

Former FBI Director Christopher Wray wrote to Biden in January urging him to not pardon or cut Peltier’s sentence short.

Peltier’s attorney said exoneration is something that could be in order at this point, but right now they said Peltier is mostly looking forward to getting the medical care he needs.