Man Spends Nearly 5 Months in Rikers Island Prison, Unaware His Bail Was Just $2

He could have been out of the prison for the price of a candy bar.

A man from Queens, New York, spent nearly 5 months inside Rikers Island prison without knowing his bail was just a measly $2.

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Aitabdel Salem, 41, was locked up between November 2014 and April 2015.

Last week, he was acquitted of skipping his bail of $25,000 for attacking an NYPD officer who arrested him in November for allegedly stealing a coat from a department store.

Unbeknownst to Salem, prosecutors could not get an indictment against him and he was ordered to be released soon after his arrest. However, he was locked away inside Rikers because he had two $1 bails on his record due to minor offenses which included tampering and mischief charges.

Salem could not be freed without paying them first. According to his current lawyers, he had no idea the minor bail was on his record.

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The Algerian native blames his previous attorney for failing to inform him about the change in his bail status, according to the New York Daily News.

Salem's new lawyers argued to a New York judge that he could not be blamed for something he did not know and was acquitted of bail jumping.

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