In 2002, a 17-year-old football star had his whole life ahead of him when it all came crashing down by one false accusation. His full-ride scholarship to the University of Southern California and dreams of joining the NFL evaporated in a snap of the fingers.

The False Accusation

Brian Banks was a phenomenal football player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School. During his junior year, he was steadily rising to the top and verbally committed to USC, a Division 1 school. Banks was more than ready to join the well-renowned football program that held 10 national championships. His hopes of joining the program quickly crumbled after Wanetta Gibson accused him of kidnap and rape.

Gibson claimed that Banks kidnapped her, dragged her into a stairwell, and sexually assaulted her. The truth was that Banks was on his way to the school office and bumped into Gibson, a classmate that he had known since middle school. They entered a stairwell and had a consensual encounter where they made out, but no sexual intercourse took place.

Pleading Guilty

Although there was no evidence that Banks kidnapped or raped Gibson, his lawyers only gave him two options. He could either plead not guilty and risk 41 years in prison or plead “no contest” and serve no more than 18 months.

Banks did not have a chance to consult his mother and frighteningly decided to listen to his lawyer’s suggestion. He pleaded guilty after choosing the “lesser of two evils,” and ended up spending six years in prison instead of the 18 months his lawyers promised. In those six years, he said that he read every single book possible and “learned to value every opportunity.”

“My only dream in the world is just to be free. For years, I felt like a toy with the switch cut off, sitting on the shelf.”

Brian Banks

After he was released, he spent another five years under parole with an ankle bracelet. Not only was he monitored 24 hours a day, but he also had to register as a sex offender which resulted in trouble finding employment.

Finding Innocence

On February 28, 2011, he received a Facebook friend request from the girl who falsely accused him. Instead of accepting her request, he told her to meet in person with a private investigator named Freddie Parish. In two meetings, Gibson retracted the accusations she made nine years prior. She claimed that adults “put stuff in her head” and blew it out of proportion, even though Gibson and Banks were “just playing around.”

Gibson admitted that Banks was completely innocent, but said she would not tell the truth to prosecutors. She did not want to pay back the $1.5 million her family was awarded in a civil suit against the Long Beach Unified School District. What Gibson did not know was that the meetings she had with the private investigator and Banks were secretly videotaped.

Banks took the video recordings to the California Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to wrongly incarcerated inmates. Attorney Justin Brooks successfully had the kidnapping and rape convictions overturned and Banks was completely exonerated on May 12, 2012.

Even though the false accusations cost Banks over 10 years of his life, he was able to fulfill his dreams of joining the NFL and signed with the Atlanta Falcons in 2013. Additionally, a biographical movie titled Brian Banks was released in 2018 following his exoneration. Gibson was ordered to pay $2.6 million to the Long Beach Unified School District for her false claims. Banks stated that he did not want to pursue legal actions against the accuser.