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Falsely Accused
by Peary Perry |
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How
about this deal?
You’re happily married, got a good wife and some great kids and then
what happens?
You get indicted for murder along with another fellow and then convicted.
Then you get sent off to prison, where you stay for the next thirty
(30) years.
You miss seeing your kids grow up, you miss your wife….basically your
life is over.
You claim it was not you and that you had nothing to do with the murder.
No one listens, after all the FBI did the investigation and they said
you were the person responsible for the murder.
Think
this is something I made up?
Think again.
Ask two fellows named Peter Limone and Joe Salvati if they think this
is real or not.
They are the ones convicted and sentenced to life (Salvati) and execution
(Limone).
These
men spent the next three decades in prison for a crime they both said
they were not involved with. Do you think anyone listened to them?
No, not hardly, everyone knows that all people who are in jail are
guilty, besides it was the FBI, our premier law enforcement agency
who provided the evidence necessary for their convictions.
During those thirty years, the wives of these two men were faithful
in keeping them involved (as much as possible) with their families.
They did all sorts of jobs to keep their families together and make
ends meet. They visited as often as they were allowed to do so.
For thirty years. Thirty long years.
Never did either wife think of giving up and divorcing their husbands.
Never did they believe their husbands had lied to them and were actually
involved with the murder.
The trips to the prison took two hours each way. The wives and the
kids were subjected to searches and pat-downs for weapons or contraband
which they might be carrying inside of the prison grounds.
So
what’s the problem here?
Nothing except two men were falsely accused and convicted with the
full knowledge of the FBI that they were not involved and did not
murder the victim.
Now, it seems as if a federal judge got involved, last month, and
ordered the FBI to pay $101 million to the families for this false
conviction. The judge found that the FBI purposely withheld evidence
that would have shown that the men were innocent but failed to provide
it since they were trying to cover up for a mob informant. The two
men and their families say the money doesn’t mean that much to them
since they are now in their seventies and have lost the best years
of their lives. How do you repay them for that? You can’t.
How in God’s name could anyone do this and live with themselves?
How can anyone get up in the morning and look at themselves in the
mirror knowing what you have done to two men and their families?
For thirty years.
You hear about these things, and you think to yourself that “This
is America, things like this just don’t happen…” but guess what?….
sometimes they do.
So
try as I might, I couldn’t find out anything about the law enforcement
officers who were behind this travesty of justice. You try it for
yourself and see what you get….zip, nada, zero, nothing. No charges,
no indictments, no arrests….nothing to show that anyone got really
concerned over what had happened.
Makes you want to ask yourself ‘why’? How can an officer of the law
sit in a courtroom and allow two innocent people to go to prison and
have their lives ruined for thirty years without feeling some pangs
of guilt?
It’s beyond me. These FBI agents are probably retired by now, but
if I had my way they’d get thirty years as well. What’s the old saying?
You do the crime; you should do the time….
Thirty of their years……
And no money. |
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© Peary Perry
Letters
From North America
August 22, 2007 column
Syndicated weekly in 80 newspapers
Comments go to pperry@austin.rr.com
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