He was framed for the assassination of the Congressman by the congressman's partner and the mysterious hacker Root. After his number came up, Reese protected him from an assassin sent by Matheson and Root while Powell's wife learned of his lies. Reese allowed Powell to discreetly call his wife in case something happened to him and then dressed in Powell's hoodie and used a tracking device left in his boot to lure the assassin into a bathroom where Reese killed him. Once the assassin was dead, Powell went to the 8th Precinct and surrendered himself to the police and FBI. Shortly afterwards, he was exonerated by Harold Finch who sent a recording he'd made of a phone conversation between Matheson and Root to Detective Joss Carter.