RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCT) — Winterville Pastor Daron Carmon marched to Raleigh in an effort to create awareness and speed up the process of his pardon process.

At age 19, Carmon was wrongfully convicted in 1993 for a robbery he did not commit. He was released from jail eight years later and exonerated last September.

Since then, he’s become the pastor of two churches, got married and adopted five children. He also started several nonprofits. He has been asking the state to speed up his pardon process.

Carmon, along with members of his organization People Against Racism, marched to the Governor’s Mansion in Raleigh on Saturday. In an interview with WNCT, Carmon said his hope is to seek justice.

“The more we’re out there, the more visible we become and the more our voices are heard,” Carmon said. “So that is the point of what we are doing today. I believe it should be automatic that after a person is exonerated they should automatically be pardoned, but that’s not the way it works here in North Carolina.”

Carmon said he often expresses activism for others but this time, he’s doing it for himself.