HE COMMITTED THE MURDER.

OR DID HE?

Thomas Farese was no choir boy.

He was connected by marriage to New York's Colombo crime family and had been
involved in his share of tangles with the law. But he was no contract
killer, he insisted in federal court, even though federal prosecutors told a
federal magistrate he had confessed about a murder for hire to a government
informant, who told federal agents about the confession from prison.

Prosecutors read the informant's incriminating statement in court, and
Farese was held for trial. In 1994, he was convicted.

It would be two years before his attorneys learned that the same informant
had also given government agents an almost identical statement when
implicating another man in the same murder. Prosecutors neglected to tell
Farese or the judge about the contradiction.

Farese's attorney, Jon May, was outraged. "Increasingly in this circuit,
agents and prosecutors have adopted the philosophy that whatever means are
necessary to obtain a conviction are justified by the good that will result
to society," he said in the 1996 appeal of Farese's conviction. "This has
resulted in perjury by government agents and the suppression of favorable
evidence and the making of false statements in closing arguments by
prosecutors."

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed, saying it was "appalled by the
moral blindness exhibited by the assistant supervisors and division chiefs
at the U.S. Attorney's Office. Prosecutors are held to a higher standard for
a reason. They are given awesome powers. If they cannot be trusted, we are
all at risk."

Farese was released on bond in early 1996 as the government decided whether
to refile charges. In early December 1997, the bond was rescinded, and he
went back to prison. He was released again on bond in early 1998.

Finally, Farese agreed to a plea bargain: six years in prison on charges
relating to a strip club he operated in Florida. He said he agreed to the
deal because prosecutors threatened to indict his wife if he did not accept
the plea bargain.

Checked-by: Don Beck