Cop Frames Michigan Man, Is Later Forgiven

A man who spent four years in prison for a crime he did not commit has provided a powerful example of Christ's love and redemption by forgiving the officer who framed him.

In 2005, Jameel McGee was walking the streets of Benton Harbor, Michigan when an officer accused him of dealing drugs. 

"It was all made up," McGee told CBS' "On the Road" with Steve Hartman.

Officer Andrew Collins arrested McGee, who spent the next four years behind bars. He was eventually exonerated in 2009, but he lost everything and had to start all over again. 

Collins was later caught for fabricating the charges and spent a year-and-a-half in prison for filing false police reports, planting drugs, and stealing. 

"I falsified the report," said Collins who admits to framing McGee. "At the start of that day, I was going to make sure that I had another drug arrest."

Collins acknowledges that he put an innocent man in jail. 

McGee was upset for a number of years about the false conviction and he was determined to find Collins and harm him. 

However, through their experiences they both had come to give their lives to Christ. In 2015, Collins and McGee found themselves both working at a faith-based cafe called Cafe Mosaic in Benton Harbor. 

McGee approached Collins and the moment of confrontation took an unlikely turn. 

Collins recalls that all he could do was apologize. 

"I said, 'Honestly, I have no explanation. All I can do is say I'm sorry,'" Collins said.

"That was pretty much all I needed to hear," McGee said. He accepted Collins apology. 

They have now become close friends and spend time together outside of work. McGee even told Collins that he loved him in Christ. 

"I just started weeping because he doesn't owe me that," Collins said with tears in his eyes. "I don't deserve that."

McGee said that he wants to be an example to the world of a "kinder mankind" because of his Christian faith.