WASHINGTON — New York’s Rikers Island has a long and storied history. Mother Jones ranked it as one of America’s ‘‘worst prisons.’’ Sitting on an island that was once used to raise pigs for slaughter and as a landfill, the correctional facility has experienced gang violence and widespread corruption among its guards.

It was here that Aitabdel Salem, a native of Algeria, spent five months for no good reason. His bail was set at a mere $2 — the price of a slice of New York pizza — but allegedly no one actually told him. Salem, thinking his bail was $25,000, languished on Rikers Island from November 2014 to April 2015 , when he could have walked out at any time.

Salem, 41, was arrested on Nov 21, 2014, on charges of attacking the New York police officer who was arresting him for stealing a coat from a Zara location in the Flatiron District, the New York Daily News reported. His bail was set at $25,000, more than Salem could afford.

Prosecutors weren’t able to get an indictment for the alleged police assault, though, and Salem’s release from that charge was ordered.

He still faced charges for two minor offenses from allegedly tampering with a subway card machine in 2014, according to Mashable, so he was required to post bail before leaving jail. Since the charges were so small, a judge dropped his bail to a dollar for each charge.

According to Salem, though, no one told him. Salem’s new attorneys, Glenn Hardy and Theodore Goldbergh, are placing the blame on his previous attorney.

‘‘[Salem] was shocked and dismayed and frustrated that his case was unconscionably mishandled and there was no communication by his attorney telling him his bail was $2, which he could have made at any moment,’’ Hardy said.

Washington Post