Adnan Syed, whose case received international attention in 2014 with the release of the podcast “Serial,” will not have to return to prison, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Jennifer B. Schiffer granted Syed’s motion to reduce his sentence to time served under the Juvenile Restoration Act, which allows people who’ve served at least 20 years in prison for crimes they committed as children to get back into court and establish that they’ve changed. He will be on supervised probation for five years.

Schiffer said there were 11 factors that she was required to consider under the law, including age at the time of the crime, nature of the offense and history and characteristics of the individual, and any statement from the victim or victim’s representative. The final one — any other factors the court deems relevant — persuaded her to grant the motion.

Syed, she said, has proven that he’s fit to live in society. Sending him back to prison would be “unproductive and unfair.”

“After considering the entire record,” Schiffer wrote in a 14-page opinion, “the court concludes that the Defendant is not a danger to the public and that the interests of justice will be better served by a reduced sentence.”

She said she would schedule a brief hearing over Zoom in the next two weeks to impose the new sentence.

Syed, now 43, was found guilty in 2000 in Baltimore Circuit Court of first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and false imprisonment in the killing of Hae Min Lee, his ex-girlfriend and classmate at Woodlawn High School. He was sentenced to life in prison — plus 30 years.

Her body was discovered on Feb. 9, 1999, in Leakin Park in Baltimore. She was 18.

At the time of the killing, Syed was 17. From the beginning, he has maintained his innocence.

In 2022, the Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office filed a motion to throw out Syed’s conviction after reporting that an approximately one-year investigation found that prosecutors failed to turn over exculpatory evidence and uncovered information about two possible alternative suspects.

Circuit Judge Melissa M. Phinn granted the motion and ordered Syed to immediately be released from prison. Since that time, he has remained free.

The state’s attorney at the time, Marilyn Mosby, then dropped the charges.

The Maryland Supreme Court in 2024 ruled in a 4-3 decision that the rights of Young Lee, Hae Min Lee’s brother, were violated and reinstated Syed’s conviction.

The state’s highest court ordered a new hearing before a different judge but allowed Syed in the meantime to remain free.

Meanwhile, Syed’s attorneys, Assistant Public Defenders Erica Suter and Brian Zavin, filed a motion to reduce his sentence.

Suter is director of the Innocence Project Clinic at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Zavin is chief attorney of the Maryland Office of the Public Defender’s Appellate Division.

“Today, we are focused on the joy and relief of this decision,” Suter said in a statement. “Adnan is grateful that the Judge agreed with his motion to reduce his sentence under the Juvenile Restoration Act.”

“Given his accomplishments in prison and his work in the community since release, he was a model candidate for a sentence reduction,” she added. “Adnan is committed to continuing to be a productive member of his community and living a life centered around his family.”

Baltimore State’s Attorney Ivan Bates second campaignthe motion to reduce Syed’s sentence.

At the same time, Bates abandoned the motion to throw out Syed’s conviction, which his predecessor filed in the case. He alleges the request contained “false and misleading statements that undermine the integrity of the judicial process."

When he first ran for state’s attorney in 2018, Bates told Rolling Stone magazine that, if he was elected, he’d drop the charges against Syed. He lost that race but took office in 2023 after a second campaign.

In a statement, Bates, a Democrat, described the resolution as a “just outcome for a tragedy that took the life of a young woman whose family is forever altered.”

“I hope the Lee family can find peace and healing in the aftermath of this challenging experience,” Bates said. “My office is here to support them whenever they may need it.”

During a hearing last week, Young Lee said he was pleased when the jury returned a guilty verdict and felt that his sister could finally rest in peace.

When “Serial” was released, he said, other people became famous while he closed himself off. He said he felt like he was living the same nightmare over and over.

Young Lee talked the about the sudden turn of events that set Syed free. The criminal justice system, he said, failed him.

In a videotaped statement in Korean, Youn Wha Kim, Hae Min Lee’s mother, said Syed was old enough to think about his actions.

“Those who commit a crime should pay the price,” Kim said. “Forgiving and letting go simply because he was young, that shall not happen.”

David Sanford, the Lee family’s attorney, urged the judge to deny the motion for reduction of sentence.

“Absolutely nothing changes the fact that Mr. Syed remains convicted of first-degree premeditated murder due to overwhelming direct and circumstantial evidence,” Sanford said in a statement. “We hope that one day Mr. Syed can summon the courage to take responsibility for his crime and express sincere remorse.”

Syed has been married to his wife, Fatima, for five years.

Since his release, Syed has worked as a program associate at the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown University. He’s also been active in his mosque, the Islamic Society of Baltimore, and helped other people who used to be incarcerated.