Wrongful conviction draws lawsuit against U.S.

updated 10:56 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2006

BOSTON - Two Boston men who spent 30 years in prison for an underworld slaying they did not commit are suing the federal government after the FBI withheld evidence that would have cleared them to protect an informant.

In a trial that opened Thursday, those men and the families of two others who were wrongfully convicted but died in prison are seeking damages from the government that could total more than $100 million.

Joseph Salvati, 72, and Peter Limone, 74, were exonerated in 2001 after a state judge found that FBI agents hid wiretap tapes and other information from state prosecutors to protect an FBI informant and former mob hit man, Joseph “The Animal” Barboza.

Barboza was a known mob assassin responsible for numerous hits during Boston’s gangland wars of the 1960s. He was also so vital to FBI efforts to crack the mob that the agency allowed him to frame four men for murder, attorneys for the plaintiffs said in opening statements.

The lawsuit accuses the federal government of malicious prosecution, conspiracy and depriving the men’s family of companionship.

Defense attorney blasts ‘a rigged game, a charade’
“It was a rigged game, a charade, a story concocted by Mr. Barboza and assented to by the FBI,” said attorney Austin McGuigan, who represents Salvati. “There was no hope the real story in this case would be uncovered.”

The case is the latest development in a scandal that unfolded in Boston about a decade ago, when it was learned that the FBI had a corrupt relationship with the mob, protecting killers who were informants and even tipping them off to pending indictments.

The lawsuit was filed after the Justice Department released documents in 2001 that showed the FBI withheld evidence from state prosecutors that could have cleared the men so the agency could protect an informant who actually committed the crime.

The plaintiffs have not asked for a specific dollar award, but briefs filed in the case point to past decisions that have awarded $1 million for each year wrongly imprisoned, which would total more than $100 million in this case.

Justice Department attorney Bridget Lipscomb said federal authorities had no duty to share information with state prosecutors, and cannot be liable for the results of a separate state investigation. She also noted the four men had access to some FBI information, as well as top-notch attorneys who raised doubts about Barboza’s testimony at their trial.

Limone, Louis Greco and Henry Tameleo were sentenced to death in 1968 for the murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan, but were not executed before the death penalty was banned in 1975. Salvati was sentenced to life in prison.

MORE FROM LIFE

Life Section Front

Conn. court nixes gay marriage ban After Shepard, no federal hate crime law Ford, GM say they won’t file for bankruptcy Creation Museum draws big crowds 1 dead in crash at hot air balloon fest Abortion ultrasound requirement challenged Golden Gate may get anti-suicide net Soldier punished in beating of Jewish trainee Life Section Front   Add Life headlines to your news reader: