Legal Juice
No amount of money can give these falsely convicted men back their lives (2 of them died in prison), but the $101,750,000 awarded by U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Gertner certainly makes a statement. In 1965, a small-time hoodlum named Deegan was killed. One of those known by the FBI to be involved in the killing, Joseph Barboza, turned FBI informant. In order to protect him, with Barboza as the star witness, the FBI framed four innocent men. Louis Greco, Henry Tameleo and Peter Limone were convicted of Deegan’s murder and sentenced to death. Joseph Salvati was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted as an accessory to Deegan’s murder and two counts of conspiracy.
Tameleo died in prison after serving 15 years. Greco died in prison after serving 27 years. Salvati was released after serving 30 years, Limone after serving 33 years.