FREE AGAIN: Wrongly Accused Football Star is Finally Cleared

A former high school football star is a free man again after his rape conviction was overturned yesterday (Thursday) in Long Beach, California.

A decade ago, 26-year-old Brian Banks was set to go to USC on a full-ride football scholarship, but instead, he was accused in 2002 of kidnapping and raping a girl at a Long Beach high school and served five years in prison and another five on probation as a registered sex offender.

However, in a videotaped meeting last year with a private investigator, the alleged victim, Wanetta Gibson, admitted that she lied and her sexual liaison with Banks was consensual. She said she refused to tell prosecutors the truth because she didn't want to give back a $1.5 million settlement she received from the school district for insufficient security.

On advice from his lawyer, Banks pleaded no contest to the original charges in exchange for a shorter prison term. Now, he's back in training with renewed dreams of playing in the NFL.