Released Oklahoma Death Row Inmate Richard Glossip Faces Potential 45-Year Prison Sentence

Richard Glossip walked out of prison in May after spending three decades on Oklahoma’s death row, but his hard-won freedom could end before the year is out.

USA Today reported that Glossip pleaded guilty to accessory to first-degree murder after the fact on Thursday, Nov. 12, in a deal that lets him avoid the death penalty entirely.

Richard Glossip needs our help, urgently! He has been on Oklahoma’s death row for 24 years for a crime he did not commit and is now scheduled to be executed on May 18th. Please help this innocent man by calling the pardon board at 405-602-6437 or email [email protected] and…

— Post by @KimKardashian on X

State prosecutors withdrew a first-degree murder charge against the 63-year-old during a Thursday hearing. Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai will decide his sentence at a hearing in December, where she can hand down anywhere from five to 45 years in prison or give him credit for time served to keep him out.

“It’s a tightrope,” Glossip’s attorney, Don Knight, told USA Today on Thursday.

“In 1997, had Rich been given the longest possible sentence for the crime he pled guilty to today, he would never have been on death row and would have been released 10 years ago,” Knight said. “We look forward to an opportunity to show why returning him to custody would not serve the interests of justice, and to ending this nightmare for Rich and all concerned.”

The 1997 motel murder and three decades of legal battles

Glossip was originally accused of arranging the death of his boss, 54-year-old Oklahoma City motel owner Barry Van Treese, to prevent being fired for embezzlement. Van Treese was discovered beaten to death with a baseball bat in Room 102 of the Best Budget Inn on Jan. 7, 1997.

Motel maintenance man Justin Sneed confessed to the killing and claimed Glossip pressured him into it with the promise of a $10,000 payment. Sneed served as the primary witness against Glossip through multiple trials.

So pleased the court has given Richard Glossip's legal team time to find additional proof of his innocence. I am hopeful not only for him

— Post by @SusanSarandon on X

Defense attorneys maintained that Sneed killed the motel owner during a botched robbery for drug money and implicated Glossip to escape the death penalty. Jurors convicted Glossip and sentenced him to death in 1998, but the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned that verdict in 2001 over defense representation flaws. A 2004 retrial yielded a second conviction and death sentence.

Over thirty years, execution dates were scheduled and called off nine separate times. On Sept. 30, 2015, Glossip came within three hours of lethal injection before officials discovered a pharmacist supplied the wrong execution drug.

Supreme Court overturns conviction as state admits unfair trial

The case shifted last year when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the conviction. The high court aligned with both defense lawyers and Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond, who made a rare admission that Glossip never received a fair trial. Drummond concluded that trial prosecutors hid evidence that could have pointed toward an acquittal, though the state continued to argue it held strong evidence for a potential third trial.

“We remain focused on retrying this case and securing a third conviction,” Leslie Berger, press secretary for the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, said in May.

Opting to avoid another unpredictable jury trial, Glossip’s legal team negotiated the plea deal. “We felt it was best to go on ahead and do this at this time because trials are uncertain things,” Knight said.

Life on bond and high-profile backing

Since his release in May, Glossip has lived in Oklahoma City with his wife, whom he married in 2021 while incarcerated. Knight described his client as a model person on bond who views everyday experiences with fresh wonder while grappling with deep anxiety.

The case drew intense national and international scrutiny over the years, attracting prominent figures such as Kim Kardashian, Susan Sarandon, and television personality “Dr. Phil” McGraw to advocate on his behalf.

Judge Mai will determine whether Glossip stays free or returns to custody at his sentencing hearing in December.