RALEIGH -- A man that spent nearly 17 years behind bars, has now been pardoned. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory pardoned 63-year-old Lamonte Armstrong after he spent almost two decades in prison for a Greensboro murder, in which, law officers and prosecutors bid key details from defense lawyers.

The pardon makes Armstrong eligible for claim compensation allowing payments of up to $750,000 under North Carolina law for people wrongly convicted of felonies.

Armstrong had been convicted of killing Ernestine Compton in 1988. Compton was one of Armstrong's former professors at North Carolina A&T University. A witness, who was key to getting the conviction, now says he was pressured by police to accuse Armstrong. A re-tested palm print from the scene of the murder belonged to another suspect.

Armstrong now works at a substance abuse treatment center in Chapel Hill, after he was released by a judge 16 months ago.