The state announced that it would try Woodfox for murder a third time. But it offered him a plea deal after negotiation with his defense. Woodfox pleaded "no contest" (nolo contendere) to lesser charges of manslaughter and aggravated burglary. Together with his time for armed robbery, he had already served 45 years, the total of the sentences for those crimes. He was released based on time served, on February 19, 2016, his 69th birthday. Woodfox's civil suit filed in 2000, with plaintiffs King and Wallace, is still pending against the Louisiana Department of Corrections over the practice of extended solitary confinement.
