Framed by the feds

[Eugene]

Source: Boston Globe

GLOBE EDITORIAL

Framed by the feds

July 28, 2007

IN 1968, FBI agents in Boston framed Joseph Salvati, Peter Limone,
Louis Greco, and Henry Tameleo for a mob-related murder they didn't
commit and rubbed out any chance the men might have had to pursue
even a semblance of normal life. This week, US District Judge Nancy
Gertner did what she could to make them whole when she ordered the
government to pay $101.7 million to the wrongfully imprisoned men
and their families.

Gertner could barely hide her contempt for the government's claim
that the FBI had no duty to tell state prosecutors that a key witness
in the case, Joseph "The Animal" Barboza, had falsely implicated
the four men while protecting one of the true killers, FBI informant
Vincent Flemmi. Gertner called the government's position "absurd."
The question now is whether the US Justice Department will drag out
its clown show by either pursuing an appeal or attempting to whittle
down the judgment, which may be a record award for a suit under the
Federal Tort Claims Act.

If federal law enforcement has learned anything from this case, they
will apologize to the parties and pay the judgment.

In the 1960s, corruption oozed out of the Boston FBI office. It was the
perfect operating environment for former FBI agents Dennis Condon
and H. Paul Rico, who cared more about collecting informants than
solving crimes. In these cases, and cases to follow in the 1970s and
'80s, FBI agents would prove to be without conscience when it came
to cutting bargains with criminals and covering their tracks. Former
FBI agent John Connolly was a product of this toxic culture. In 2002,
he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for protecting two mobsters,
including fugitive mobster James "Whitey" Bulger, who is a suspect
in 19 murders.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2007/07/28/framed_by_the_feds

[Bitwit1234]

1. No amount of money is going to give the years back to these men

They could have married, had children and grandchildren. Who is going to give them that. All those wasted years. We see now how underhanded our government can be. Should we really trust the law.

[ThomCat]

2. How much of that corruption is Bush bringing back

to every agency under his control? The idea that those with power can break any rule and cause harm to anyone if it serves some other purpose certainly seems common in all the key players in this administration, and that kind of poison trickles down.