Government fined $101 million over convictions

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Released in 1997, 2001
At the time of Deegan’s slaying, Tameleo and Limone were reputed leaders of the New England mob, while Greco and Salvati had minor criminal records.

Deegan’s murder had gone unsolved until the FBI recruited Barboza to testify against several organized crime figures. Barboza wanted to protect a fellow FBI informant, Vincent “Jimmy” Flemmi, who was involved in the Deegan slaying, and agreed to testify for state prosecutors in the case, plaintiff’s lawyers said.

Tameleo died in prison in 1985 after serving 18 years. Greco died in prison in 1995 after serving 28 years.

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Salvati was sentenced to life in prison as an accessory to murder. He was released from prison when his sentence was commuted in 1997, after serving a little more than 29 years. Limone served 33 years in prison before being freed in 2001.

'What do you want, tears?'
Salvati and Limone were exonerated in 2001 after FBI memos dating back to the Deegan case surfaced during probes into the Boston FBI’s relationship with gangsters and FBI informants Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, Vincent’s brother, and James “Whitey” Bulger, who has been on the FBI’s “10 Most Wanted” list for years.

Republican Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, who chaired the House Government Reform Committee when it conducted an investigation of the FBI and its use of criminal informants, said he was gratified by the judge’s ruling.

“This was one of the biggest injustices that I have ever seen,” Burton said.

One of the agents blamed in the case, Rico, was arrested in 2003 on murder and conspiracy charges in the 1981 killing of a Tulsa, Okla., businessman. Rico died in state custody in 2004 while awaiting trial.

During testimony before Burton’s committee in 2001, Rico denied he and his partner helped frame an innocent man for Deegan’s death, but acknowledged that Salvati wrongly spent 30 years in prison for the crime.

Rico was unrepentant when asked how he felt about Salvati’s wrongful imprisonment.

“What do you want, tears?” he said.