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Wrongly Convicted Database Record
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Charge: |
Mail Fraud & Racketeering (incl. RICO) |
Sentence: |
5 years |
Years Imprisoned: |
2.5 |
Year Crime: |
1978 |
Year Convicted: |
1980 |
Year Cleared: |
1989 |
U.S. State or Country of Crime: |
Washington |
County or Region of Crime: |
Thurston |
City of Crime: |
Olympia |
Result: |
Judicially Exonerated |
Summary of Case: |
"Gordon L. Walgren was wrongly convicted on October 3, 1980 of mail fraud and racketerring (RICO) in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, Washington. He was also convicted of violating the federal Travel Act. Walgren, and this two codefendants convicted of the same crimes, were each sentenced to serve a total of five years in prison. Gordon Walgren was allowed to remain free on bond pending the outcome of his appeal. After Walgren's direct appeal was denied on February 2, 1982, Walgren began serving his sentence at the Lompoc, Calif. Federal Correctional Institution. Walgren was released on parole in 1984. Walgren was a lawyer whose license was suspended after his conviction, but he was reinstated as an attorney in 1986 and began practicing law in his hometown of Bremerton, Washington. After his release Walgren continued his legal efforts to overturn his convictions. In 1984 he filed two motions with the district court seeking a new trial on his Travel Act conviction, and requesting that his mail fraud and RICO convictions be vacated pursuant to a writ of error coram nobis. After a number of earlier continuances, in July 1985, the magistrate granted an open-ended continuance "until further order of this court" so that Walgren could pursue a civil action under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain FBI documents related to his case. In 1988 the district court judge denied his motion for a new trial concluding that its jurisdiction had lapsed because of the "grossly excessive" delay, and it also denied his coram nobis petition, after the U.S. Magistrate Judge had recommended granting it. Walgren appealed. On September 13, 1989 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Walgren's writ of coram nobis and vacated his mail fraud and racketerring (RICO) convictions. The Court granted Walgren's coram nobis petition based on the Supreme Court's decision in McNally v. United States, 483 U.S. 350 (1987). In McNally, the Supreme Court held that the mail fraud statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1341, protects only tangible property rights, not the intangible rights of the citizenry to good government. The appeals court agreed with Walgren's argument that because the jury was instructed that it could convict him of mail fraud by finding that he furthered a scheme to deprive Washington citizens of the intangible right to honest government, he was convicted for an act which is not a crime. The appeals court remanded his motion for a new trial related to his Travel Act conviction for consideration if Walgren's new evidence was material to establish gross misconduct by the government. Walgren's Travel Act conviction was not overturned." |
Conviction Caused By: |
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Innocence Proved By: |
"On September 13, 1989 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals granted Walgren's writ of coram nobis and vacated his mail fraud and racketerring (RICO) convictions." |
Defendant Aided By: |
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Compensation Awarded: |
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Was Perpetrator Identified? |
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Age When Imprisoned: |
49 |
Age When Released: |
51 |
Sex: |
Male |
Skin/Ethnicity: |
White |
Information Source 1: |
"US v. Walgren, 885 F. 2d 1417 (9th Cir., 9-13-1989) (Granting coram nobis on mail fraud and RICO convictions.)" |
Information Location 1: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=3283681178405701256&q=gordon+walgren&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 2: |
"United States v. Bagnariol, Walgren, & Gallagher, 665 F. 2d 877 (9th Cir. 1981) (Affirming convictions and sentences)" |
Information Location 2: |
"https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=10989490213283847362&q=gordon+walgren&hl=en&as_sdt=6,48" |
Information Source 3: |
"A timeline of Gordon Walgren's career, By Staff writer, Kitsap Sun (Bremerton, Wash.), April 20, 2013" |
Information Location 3: |
http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/local-news/gordon-walgren-timeline |
Information Source 4: |
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Information Location 4: |
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Information Source 5: |
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Information Location 5: |
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Book About Case: |
"Close to the Flame," By Gordon Walgren (2013)" |
Book Information: |
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Book About Case (2): |
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Book Information (2): |
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Movie About Case: |
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Comments About Case: |
Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org