SUSSEX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- On April 8, 2025, Ferrone Claiborne walked out of FCI Petersburg Medium. For the first time in 26 years, he was a free man. Just one month before, Terence Richardson — the other man who was found not guilty of killing Waverly police officer Allen Gibson in 1998, yet s till sentenced to life behind bars — had walked out of that same prison. One year later, he and Ferrone Claiborne of the so-called "Waverly Two" are speaking more publicly about their time in prison, the support they received for a review of their case and how they've navigated freedom. That road, they say, isn't free of challenges. Both men told 8News they fear the impacts of continuing to be branded "cop killers" — a charge they both adamantly deny, despite their guilty pleas in state court. They say they only took those plea deals to save their lives. MORE: ‘Tried to kill us twice,' Two Virginia men who were found not guilty, yet sentenced to life speak for first time Richardson’s plea deal, at least, doesn’t prevent him from potentially overturning his conviction. A 2020 law change allowed those who plead guilty to felonies to still petition the state courts for a writ of actual evidence based on newly-discovered, non-biological evidence. Richardson’s case has bounced back and forth through state courts, with support given by former attorney general Mark Herring — then rescinded by former attorney general Jason Miyares. Claiborne hopes success for Richardson will provide some pathway to overturning his conviction, too. To see the key events that led up to Richardson's latest state Supreme Court hearing on Feb. 18, scroll through this page. 1998 ● April 5, 1998 — 11:14 a.m. Officer Allen Gibson with the Waverly Police Department is shot in the stomach after a struggle with his own gun in the woods next to the Waverly Village Apartments in Sussex County. ● April 5, 1998 — 2:15 p.m. Gibson dies as a result of his injuries. The scene of Waverly officer Allen Gibson's murder in 1998. (Photo: 8News) ● April 7, 1998 Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne are picked up by authorities, despite no evidence linking them to the crime. ● Nov. 10, 1998 A Sussex County grand jury indicts Richardson for capital murder. 1999 ● Dec. 8, 1999 Richardson and Claiborne take plea deals, getting their charges downgraded in exchange for their guilty pleas. They say they only did this because they were told they’d get the death penalty otherwise. Ferrone Claiborne speaking with reporters outside of the Sussex County courthouse after he, per the terms of his plea deal, was allowed to walk with a misdemeanor in connection with Waverly officer Allen Gibson's death. (Photo: 8News) Richardson pleads guilty to a reduced charge of involuntary manslaughter, while Claiborne is sent home on probation after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor accessory charge. 2000 ● March 8, 2000 Richardson is sentenced to ten years of incarceration, with five years suspended, on the involuntary manslaughter charge. The Gibson family was not happy about this outcome. The family of Allen Gibson, a Waverly police officer who was killed in 1998, after a Sussex County court upheld the terms of a plea deal offered to the two men accused of his murder. (Photo: 8News) “No, it’s not justice,” Susie Gibson, Allen’s mother, told reporters at the time. “Those two guys killed my son.” ● December 2000 After pressure from the Gibson family, a federal jury indicts both Richardson and Claiborne for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, using a firearm to commit murder in the course of drug trafficking and murder of a law enforcement officer in the course of drug trafficking. The federal indictment for Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne, highlighting the allegations that they were involved in Waverly-area drug trafficking. (Photo: 8News) Federal prosecutors proceed with framing the case as a "drug deal gone wrong" and the Waverly Two as "kingpins" involved in local drug activity. 2001 ● June 13, 2001 A federal jury finds Richardson and Claiborne not guilty of both the murder and the firearm charge, but guilty of the drug charge. Dawn White, one of the jurors who served during the federal trial of Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne. (Photo: 8News) “As I recall, no one ever really thought they were guilty of murder," juror Dawn White told 8News. ● October 2001 Federal Judge Robert Payne sentences the Waverly Two to life in prison, using a rare legal maneuver to apply the sentencing guidelines for the murder charges they were found not guilty of to their drug charges. A statement from the U.S. Department of Justice regarding Robert E. Payne's 2001 sentencing of Terence Richardson and Ferrone Claiborne. (Photo: 8News) He did this because of his personal belief that Richardson and Claiborne had indeed killed Gibson. 2001 - 2002 Richardson appeals to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, which affirmed the federal district court's ruling, saying the federal trial court had "based its decision on Officer Gibson's 'reasonably accurate description of the appellants as his assailants, the corroborating testimony of Wooden and another eyewitness, appellants’ guilty pleas in state court and their false alibis.'" This was just the beginning of their court battle, which continues today. 2002 - 2016 Claiborne and Richardson families continue to fight to prove their loved ones’ innocence. 2016 - 2017 ● 2016 Claiborne’s family advocacy reaches our Taking Action team and kickstarts our investigation. ● 2017 Our Taking Action Investigation into the Waverly Two's case confirms their legal team’s challenge of three of the four reasons stated in the 2002 ruling, including the fact that Gibson's description -- given shortly before his death -- and the original description by a 9-year-old eyewitness both involved a man with dreadlocks, a hairstyle neither Richardson nor Claiborne wore. Their descriptions of the shooter’s body also didn’t match Richardson and Claiborne’s. The Waverly Two, their defense teams and the prosecutors who tried them all say they didn't know about this evidence at the time of their trials. 2018 ● Nov. 15, 2018 8News learns wrongful conviction attorney Jarrett Adams has taken on the Waverly Two’s case after seeing our Taking Action Investigation.  2020 ● Oct. 20, 2020 Gibson’s daughter, Crissana Gibson, issues a statement saying she wants the Waverly Two’s case reviewed. “Let me be clear– I want the persons responsible for my father’s murder to be held fully accountable for their actions," she said, in part. "If that is not Terence and Ferrone, I want justice done for them AND IT MUST NOT STOP THERE." ● Nov. 2, 2020 The Claiborne family hosts an event at a Waverly church. Close to 100 community members joined them in demanding that the Waverly Two’s case be reviewed. “We are tired of seeing our loved ones behind bars," said Felisha Claiborne, Ferrone's sister. 2021 ● April 26, 2021 Richardson and Claiborne file petitions for writs of actual innocence, which, if approved, would clear their names. ● May 8, 2021 Nonprofit advocacy group Life After Justice hosts a Mother’s Day brunch to honor Richardson and Claiborne’s mothers as they continue to support their sons’ fights for exoneration. ● May 27, 2021 Attorney General Mark Herring’s office confirms it is investigating the Waverly Two’s wrongful conviction claims. ● June 3, 2021 The Virginia Court of Appeals orders Herring to respond to the Waverly Two’s claims within 60 days. ● July 2, 2021 The Virginia NAACP demands that Herring and his Conviction Integrity Unit expedite their investigation into the Waverly Two’s case. ● Nov. 3, 2021 Herring loses his reelection bid to Jason Miyares, issuing his concession. ● Nov. 5, 2021 Herring announces his support of the petition to overturn Richardson’s conviction, the only conviction of the two that Herring’s office could legally weigh in on. “This is a unique case in that it is also clear that no rational factfinder would have found Richardson guilty had that information been presented in his proceeding in state court," he stated in his letter to the court. ● Dec. 16, 2021 The Virginia Court of Appeals agrees to hold a hearing on Richardson’s innocence petition, initially scheduling said hearing for the week of Feb. 8, 2022. 2022 ● Jan. 15, 2022 Miyares is sworn in as Attorney General. ● Feb. 7, 2022 Cutting it very close to Richardson's hearing date, Miyares asks the court to deny Richardson’s petition and to not allow Herring to argue in his support. In his briefing filed with the court, Miyares stated that he didn’t think the burden of proof for writ of innocence was met. He said he felt that the federal-level acquittals had no bearing on the state-level guilty pleas and that those acquittals did not constitute material evidence. He would later admit in court that the investigation had flaws, but that he did not agree with having an evidentiary hearing to determine if those flaws merited overturning Richardson’s conviction. ● May 6, 2022 After delays due to Miyares’s reversal of course, the Virginia Court of Appeals hears Richardson’s petition. ● June 21, 2022 The Virginia Court of Appeals dismisses Richardson’s petition, claiming he is “simply ineligible for a writ of actual innocence.” ● July 5, 2022 Adams files a petition for a rehearing, pushing back against the appellate court’s decision. ● July 21, 2022 The Virginia Court of Appeals denies the petition for a rehearing. Adams says they’ll take their appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia. ● Aug. 18, 2022 Adams files an appeal to the Supreme Court of Virginia, requesting that Richardson at least be granted an evidentiary hearing to allow for the court to consider his petition alongside the potentially exculpatory evidence Adam says was kept from them. ● Oct. 4, 2022 Adams petitions then-president Joe Biden for clemency for Richardson and Claiborne on federal drug conspiracy convictions that allowed the judge to use a rare legal maneuver to sentence them both to life in prison. 2023 ● Feb. 14, 2023 Adams speaks before the Supreme Court of Virginia regarding their appeal. ● April 20, 2023 The Virginia and National Associations of Criminal Defense Lawyers each file an amicus curiae brief in support of reversing the Virginia Court of Appeals’ 2022 decision. In it, the groups stated: “The decision from the Court of Appeals puts all future innocence cases in jeopardy.” 2024 ● Feb. 1, 2024 Supreme Court of Virginia reverses the Virginia Court of Appeals’ decision and grants Richardson an evidentiary hearing. ● May 22, 2024 Richardson’s evidentiary hearing takes place in Sussex County. ● May 23, 2024 The presiding Sussex judge rules that the 9-year-old witness’ statement can be entered into evidence. 2025 ● Jan. 17, 2025 As one of his last acts in office, Biden grants both clemency requests, allowing the Waverly Two to be released from prison. Miyares and then-governor Glenn Youngkin criticize the move. Youngkin expressed “outrage” that Biden reportedly rejected his U.S. Attorney’s Office recommendation to not commute the Waverly Two’s sentences, calling it “a grim day for justice." ● March 5, 2025 Richardson walks out of FCI Petersburg Medium a free man. ● April 8, 2025 Claiborne leaves FCI Petersburg, with 8News there to witness his reunion with family. Ferrone Claiborne [left] and Terence Richardson [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," on the day of Claiborne's release from prison. (Photo: Lindsey West/8News) While grateful to be free, he stresses that “the mission just began." He and Richardson may be out of prison, but Biden's commutation was not a full pardon, meaning they are still considered Gibson's murderers. ● May 13, 2025 The Virginia Court of Appeals again denies Richardson’s petition, despite now having the 9-year-old’s statement. Among their other arguments, the judges say they believe that Richardson’s state-level guilty plea technically functions as a confession. ● June 20, 2025 Richardson and Claiborne, alongside their loved ones and community members, celebrate their freedom at a brunch event in Richmond. 2026 ● Feb. 16, 2026 Our Taking Action team sits down with the Waverly Two for an exclusive in-person interview, marking the first time the two men were able to share their story unfiltered, face-to-face. Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," during a Feb. 2026 interview with 8News at the Claiborne family home in Henrico. (Photo: Ryan Nadeau/8News) During the over two-hour interview, Richardson and Claiborne talk about their time in prison, what it means to be free, the lingering "dark cloud" of their convictions and more. ● Feb. 18, 2026 The Waverly Two make their first-ever appearance in the Supreme Court of Virginia to ask that it again overturn the Virginia Court of Appeals’ decision to deny Richardson’s petition. Terence Richardson [left] and Ferrone Claiborne [right], otherwise known as the "Waverly Two," outside of the Supreme Court of Virginia in Feb. 2026. (Photo: Deanna Allbrittin/8News) Adam argues that both the appellate court and the Sussex County court did not give them a fair shake when it came to arguing the case. The Supreme Court of Virginia will issue an opinion on the Waverly Two's appeal, which their legal team expects should happen no later than mid-April. Should the court rule in the Waverly Two's favor, they will have one last chance to argue for their innocence through the state courts. Their legal team told 8News this will begin with new court briefings. 8News has been shining a light on the Waverly Two since 2017, after then-investigative reporter Kerri O'Brien began her research into their case in 2016. We continue to uncover and report new information. For all of our coverage, click here. ...read more read less