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A federal judge plans to dismiss the convictions of 15 men who were sent to prison in a botched drug case involving an informant who has admitted to perjury. U.S. District Judge John Adams told attorneys Tuesday afternoon that he hopes to have the men out of prison by Feb. 1. Federal prosecutors are expected to formally ask Adams to release the men today or tomorrow in a filing that will indicate prosecutors lack the evidence to convict them. The evidence against the men is largely the tainted testimony of informant Jerrell Bray, has admitted lying as part of a massive drug investigation in Mansfield. The case was spearheaded by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Bray has pleaded guilty to perjury and civil rights violations stemming from the case and is now serving 15 years in prison. Prosecutors refused to say that the 15 men were all innocent. They just stressed that they lacked the evidence to convict them if the cases were taken to trial. Most of the men, in fact, pleaded guilty to a variety of drug charges. Federal public defender Dennis Terez said the move was unprecedented. "This does not happen, it just does not happen," Terez said "But what the prosecutors did was the right thing." Geneva France, a 25-year-old Mansfield woman, refused to take a plea bargain in exchange for a lighter sentence. She went to trial and was convicted, largely on the testimony of Bray and DEA Agent Lee Lucas. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and served 16 months before Bray admitted he lied and that France had nothing to do with the case. That prompted a Justice Department internal investigation into the case, leading to Tuesday's announcement that the cases will be dismissed. Leaving Prison Federal prosecutors in Cleveland asked a judge Tuesday to release 15 men sentenced to prison in a massive cocaine drug investigation. All of the men but one -- Dwayne Nabors -- pled guilty to drug charges. Nabors went to trial but was convicted. He was released from prison on bond last October. The entire case fell apart after a rogue informant admitted he lied on the witness stand about several drug deals. Most of the men started serving their sentences in mid-2006. Those to be released next month:
Source: Federal court records |
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