A record 125 people were exonerated in the United States last year. Thirty-three of the exonerations came in the Houston, Texas, area where 33 individuals had drug convictions dismissed after lab tests determined they never had illegal substances. Many of the individuals had pleaded guilty before the lab work was done. Samuel Gross of the National Registry of Exonerations said: “One of the reasons people plead guilty for a crime they have not committed is they can’t make bail and have to wait in jail while waiting for trial. If they are convicted, they might get decades in prison. They plead guilty if they are offered a deal that is too good to resist.”