Kennard was sentenced to seven years in prison, to be served in Parchman Penitentiary, the state's high-security facility. This sentence prevented his ever applying again to any of Mississippi's all-white colleges. Roberts was given five years' probation and freed. In 2005, when an investigation was re-opened into the case, Roberts testified under oath that Kennard was innocent: "Kennard did not ask me to steal, Kennard did not ask me to break into the co-op, Kennard did not ask me to do anything illegal."