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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Murder |
Sentence: |
Death and later resentenced or commuted to Life |
Years Imprisoned: |
28 |
Year Crime: |
1965 |
Year Convicted: |
1968 |
Year Cleared: |
2004 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Massachusetts |
County or Region of Crime: |
Suffolk |
City of Crime: |
Boston |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated Posthumously |
Summary of Case: |
"Louis Greco was one of four men wrongly convicted on July 31, 1968, for the March 12, 1965 murder of Edward Deegan in Boston. and sentenced to death. The sentence was commuted to life in prison after Massachusetts abolished the death penalty in 1974, following the Supreme Court's Furman decision. Three of Greco's co-defendants - Peter Limone, Joseph Salvati and Henry Tameleo - were also wrongly convicted. The FBI framed the four men to protect the star witness against the men, Joseph Barboza, who was an FBI informant and the actual murderer. Greco was 78 when he died in 1995 of colon cancer and heart disease. At the time of Greco's death he had served 28 years of wrongful imprisonment. In December 2000 evidence was discovered by the Dept of Justice that was investigating FBI corruption, indicating the bureau knew the four men were innocent at the time of their prosecution. The FBI even knew that at the time of Deegan's murder, Greco and his wife were 1,500 miles away watching a movie at a theater in Miami, Florida. The two defendants still alive, Limone and Salvati, were exonerated, after having respectively served 34 and 30 years of wrongful imprisonment. Tameleo died in 1982 after 15 years of wrongful imprisonment. In September 2004, Greco was officially exonerated when a motion by the Suffolk County District Attorney was granted by a Superior Court judge. In the motion, Asst DA Mark Lee wrote, "It appears that justice may not have been done." Greco had always maintained that he was in Florida on March 12, 1965 when Deegan's was shot to death. death. Although in September 2004, a judge ruled that a civil suit by Greco's heirs could go forward. Greco's estate was awarded $28 million in July 2007 of a total award of $101.7 million to the four defendants by federal District Court Judge Nancy Gertner. The federal government appealed the award, and on August 27, 2009 the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the award. Greco's estate filed a claim for compensation from the State of Massachusetts under G.L.C. 258D in 2007, and his heirs were awarded $500,000. However, that money was returned after his successful federal civil rights lawsuit." |
Conviction Caused By: |
"Perjury by the prosecution's star witness, an FBI informant who was the actual murderer" |
Innocence Proved By: |
"In September 2004, Greco was officially exonerated when a motion by the Suffolk County District Attorney was granted by a Superior Court judge. In 2000 DOJ documents were disclosed that proved the FBI knew he and his three co-defendants were innocent at the time of their trial, and the government's star witness was an FBI informant who actually committed the murder." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
"$28,000,000 (July 2007) (Award affirmed on 08-27-2009)" |
Was Perpetrator Identified? |
Yes |
Age When Imprisoned: |
50 |
Age When Released: |
78 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"FBI’s Legacy of Shame, by Hans Sherrer, Justice Denied - the magazine for the wrongly convicted, Issue 27, Winter 2005, page 24-25." |
Information Location 1: |
http://justicedenied.org/issue/issue_27/fbi%27s_legacy_of_shame.html |
Information Source 2: |
"Man Jailed 30 Years Was Framed by Mob, Boston, Across the Nation section, Seattle Times, p. A4, 11-5-2004." |
Information Location 2: |
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Information Source 3: |
"Breakdown of $101m award to men wrongly convicted of murder, Boston Globe, July 26, 2007" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/07/26/breakdown_of_101m_award_to_men_wrongly_convicted_of_murder/ |
Information Source 4: |
"FBI loses appeal of 101.7mil verdict, By Jonathan Saltzman (Globe Staff), The Boston Globe, August 28, 2009" |
Information Location 4: |
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/08/28/fbi_loses_appeal_of_101m_verdict_in_scapegoats_case/ |
Information Source 5: |
"Werner, Roberta, Executrix Estate of Louis Greco v. Commonwealth, SUCV2007-02365" |
Information Location 5: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org