OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) – There’s a new food truck in town and a famous face is bankrolling the venture.
Glynn Simmons, 71, holds an international distinction as the man who has served the longest prison sentence in history for a crime he did not commit.
GLYNN SIMMONS: ‘Justice has finally been done today’: Judge finds wrongly imprisoned man innocent, 48 years after conviction
News 4 has featured Simmons dozens of times since we began covering his case in detail in 2003.
Simmons served 48 years, five months and 18 days for a murder he didn’t commit. He’s now starting a new life in Oklahoma City.
Glynn Simmons Free Man’s Food Truck. Image KFOR. 
Glynn Simmons Free Man’s Food Truck. Image KFOR.
“Today is beautiful; a day I’ve been waiting for for a long time,” Simmons said.
Simmons teams up with a friend from the inside, Andre Armstrong, who served 31 years in state prison and now runs the mobile kitchen.
“I try to support him in every way I can,” Armstrong said. “Because we always look out for each other.”
Simmons’ new friends also help with the business plan.
Pastor Derrick Scobey of Ebenezer Baptist Church, along with former Congressman JC Watts, Representative Jason Lowe and Oklahoma County Sheriff candidate Wayland Cubit, were all present for the grand opening.
Free Man’s Food Truck Image KFOR.
His neighbors on Northeast 20th and Martin Luther King Boulevard, the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer, gave up a few parking spaces for Simmons’ new venture, the Free Man’s Food Truck.
“A food truck is really needed on the east side, more businesses means a better community,” Father Lance Schmitz said. “It was just a natural fit.”
For nearly fifty years, Simmons dreamed of a life outside prison. His prison fantasy was to own a small business, to share his love of good food with his community.
A year ago, this innocent man walked out of the Oklahoma County courthouse a free man; the same courthouse where he was sentenced to death in 1975.
“I came out of prison with absolutely nothing,” Simmons recalled. “No food. No clothes. No shelter. No transportation.”
Generous Oklahomans helped him get back on his feet.
“I don’t know what else I can do but give back,” Simmons said. “After 48 years of service, all I want to do now is serve others.”
He is true to his word and is serving free food truck fare on this grand opening day.
Free Man’s Food Truck image KFOR.
SPECIAL REPORT: The Wrong Man
“If you give it, it lasts. That’s been happening to me since I got out.”
For Simmons, every day above ground is a good day.
The Free Man Food Truck will be set up daily near Northeast 20th and MLK for lunch and dinner.
Simmons recently learned that he will receive the maximum damages from the state of Oklahoma for his wrongful conviction.
He’s using part of that $175,000 settlement to fund the food truck.
DONATE: Glynn Simmons GoFundMe.
