Joe Salvati, wrongfully convicted of a mob-related murder, was ultimately cleared by evidence found by Boston journalist Dan Rea.[1] Sentenced to life in May 1968, he was released in 1997.[2] As a result, the House Committee on Government Reform investigated whether or not the Government withheld evidence.[3]
In 1965, Edward "Teddy" Deegan was murdered in an alley in Chelsea, Massachusetts. In 2007, Judge Nancy Gertner awarded $102 million to those whose convictions were overturned, stating FBI agents were trying to protect their informants, including "one of the true killers, Vincent "Jimmy the Bear" Flemmi, who was an FBI informant." Joe "The Animal" Barboza's testimony was crucial in convicting Mr. Salvati.[4] At the time, it was the "single largest sum ever awarded from the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act."[1][5]