It’s one of Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s most controversial picks: Mysonne Linen, a man who spent years in prison for robberies he says he didn’t commit.

“I’ve always maintained my innocence,” Linen said. “I was never in trouble prior to my case. I went to trial on a robbery case that I didn’t commit.”

Linen will serve on the team shaping policy for the criminal legal system committee, but his appointment has some New Yorkers outraged.

“We say that we have rehabilitation, right? We say we have the Department of Corrections because that’s what it is,” Linen said. “Corrections. So, if you are incarcerated for something and you go to the Department of Corrections, people should feel like that—you’re being corrected.”

Linen was once a rising Bronx rapper.

“I never knew at 21 years of age, with a $1 million record deal, that I would be incarcerated,” he said. “I thought I was coming from poverty, coming from a father who overdosed on drugs, coming from a mother who was addicted to drugs.”

He served seven years in state prison after a 1999 conviction for robbing two taxi drivers.

“This is misidentification,” Linen said. “I was arrested for one armed robbery that I never committed, and then somebody picked me out of a book that they showed somebody, saying that I looked like the other person.”

Both victims testified, and one widow recently told reporters she was appalled to learn that Linen will advise the incoming mayor.

“I would say that I’m sorry for the way she feels, and I actually never robbed her husband,” Linen said.

He says his appointment should focus on what he has done since his release, not his past.

“I used to wake up in a cell and just wish to be home, to be productive, and to say, ‘When I get home, I want to show people and do these things,’” Linen said. “Don’t judge me by being incarcerated. Judge me by the person I am now. I have a 20-year record of being a stellar individual, fighting for my community.”

Linen says his time in prison gives him a unique perspective on crime and public safety.

“I understand the flaws of the system,” he said.

He believes major changes are needed to better address public safety in New York City.

"I believe that people don't understand that police only come in not saying that they don't do a job that is necessary, but to believe that police stop or make our city safe is just not really true, and that's why I love what the mayor wants to do," Linen said. "He wants to couple mental health, experts, and community leaders and liaisons with police."

Since his release, Linen has worked to make a difference in underserved communities. News 12 has interviewed him over the years. He’s worked as a violence interrupter and helped launch anti-gun-violence initiatives. He also founded Raising Kings, a nonprofit that teaches classes at Rikers Island, and the advocacy group Until Freedom in 2020.

“There have been times I had to negotiate peace treaties with rival gangs to stop shootings,” Linen said. “I’ve been called to sit down with individuals and heads of gangs who are actually at war and take guns out of their hands.”

In some cases where crime is high, he says he would increase police patrols.

“You need increased police activity there. Those are the places where you want a high police presence because poverty creates crime. I’ll make sure police are in those areas and it deters someone."

At the end of the day, Linen sees this as a second chance to make a difference.

“We have to not only focus on crime; we have to focus on the root,” he said. “If we’re just incarcerating people and we're not saying, why are these people committing this crime? Because if nothing changes, then nothing changes. You just have a revolving door.”

For Linen, success means safer streets and more voices at the table.