CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Thursday marks one year since the release of a former Chesapeake basketball coach from prison, following a News 3 investigation uncovering evidence pointing to his innocence in a 2012 robbery.
"I feel blessed," said Brian Faulcon. “It’s kind of surreal because just last year, I was in a [prison] cell."
Former Virginia governor Ralph Northam pardoned Faulcon on January 12, 2022, a year earlier than Faulcon’s release date for armed robbery charges in Chesapeake. Northam set Faulcon free following a wave of community support for Faulcon’s release, sparked by a series of News 3 investigations.
“[I’ve] been getting a lot of love and support from the community, family, friends, even people that don’t know me,” Faulcon said.
Faulcon has always said he was not the gunman who robbed a pizza delivery woman off Eden Way in Greenbrier in 2012. The victim, during a suggestive show-up with Chesapeake police, identified Faulcon as the man who stole $14 from her pocket. After two mistrials, a jury convicted Faulcon in 2018. He was sentenced to more than five years in prison.
A series of exclusive News 3 investigations revealed the DNA evidence found in the victim’s pocket does not connect Faulcon to the crime. Court documents also revealed the silver gun the victim said the robber had does not match the black gun Faulcon legally owned. News 3 investigators also exposed a surveillance image of a different man who robbed a nearby 7-Eleven that same night that didn't surface until after Faulcon was convicted. Police never investigated a connection, even though the convenience store robber more closely matched the victim's description.
While Faulcon is grateful for his freedom, he said he’s still chained to the armed robbery conviction. Northam’s pardon last year stopped short of absolving Faulcon from the conviction, leaving that opportunity to the courts or Governor Glenn Youngkin.
“I am innocent, but I’m still viewed as someone who’s just an armed robber and a convicted felon,” said Faulcon. “I’m blessed and thankful to be out [of prison], but at the same time, I still have that conviction hanging over my head.”
Faulcon said he’s restarted his car detailing business, and continues coaching kids in basketball. He hopes to complete the degree program he started at Norfolk State University before his arrest.
