A Greene County man, who spent more than two years behind bars for a rape and kidnapping he never committed, will get restitution.

The state of Missouri is paying Armand Villasana $11,250 for his jail time.

In 1999, Villasana was convicted of kidnapping and raping a woman.

“I’d describe it as kangaroo court.” Villasana said, “There was no evidence against me. It was like they weren’t listening.”

The innocent man was sentenced to 70 years.

"This case is a perfect storm.” Villasana’s Pro Bono Civil Attorney Greg Aleshire said, “You have an alleged victim who lied, an overzealous sheriff’s detective, an overzealous prosecutor and a highway patrol crime lab that wouldn’t hadn’t over their notes."

Villasana served 225 days before DNA evidence set him free in 2000.

He will not get paid for the year and a half he spent in jail before his conviction.

He found out Wednesday he will get paid but only for time spent in jail after his conviction.

Missouri law says his time is worth $50 dollars a day but he disagrees.

"I think it sucks, if I'm honest with you." Villasana said, “Those people that charged me admitted they made mistakes.

“They should say this is what we owe Armand and his family.” Villasana said, “I should not have had to fight for it. I've been fighting for my life for years."

Villasana and his wife Wanda are cleaning houses to pay off legal fees that set him free in 2001.

Villasana doubts he'd be cleaning houses if he hadn't been wrongly convicted.

He joked, "Who knows I might be a pro golfer and working hard at it.”

Behind the jokes, lies years of public humiliation that have made it hard for Villasana not to be bitter.

Villasana says, “Nothing good was happening for me until I forgave Judith Lummis.”

Villasana has forgiven Lummis who filed the false claim but has struggled to forgive the detective and prosecutors in the case.

"They thought ‘oh we got this guy.’” Villasana said, “Some people in those positions don’t care as long has they get a conviction especially in a high profile case."

Villasana's road to restitution is far from over.

The state of Missouri has a set amount of money for all cases were DNA sets someone free.

Villasana has no idea when he'll receive all the money he deserves for being wrongly imprisoned.

Villasana originally had a public defender.

He then hired local attorney, Shawn Askinosie, who ordered the DNA testing that caused the State’s post conviction dismissal.

A state-required DNA sample was collected from an inmate at the Ozark Correctional Center for a completely unrelated crime.

The inmates sample was entered into a national DNA database.

The next day, the database received a hit matching the inmate's DNA to DNA in the Lummis rape case.

After further investigation, authorities found out the alleged victim had an affair with the inmate at the time of the rape.

In August 2007, the state and Greene County Prosecutor’s office held a press conference to announce Villasana’s innocence.

Prosecutor Darrell Moore apologized for the devastating effects of the conviction.

By filing for restitution Villasana can not file a civil lawsuit against anyone involved in the case.