- John Durham
John Durham is a
federal prosecutor . He is probably best known for leading an inquiry into allegations thatFBI agent s andBoston police had ties with the mob. [cite web
url=http://www.slate.com/id/2181253/
title=The Jump Off
first=Daniel
last=Politi
publisher=Slate
date=2008-01-03]In January 2008, he was appointed to lead the
U.S. Justice Department criminal investigation into the2005 CIA interrogation tapes destruction . [cite web
url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152ap_cia_videotapes_summary_box.html
title=Criminal probe opened over CIA tapes
first=
last=The Associated Press
publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
date=2008-01-02] [cite web
url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152ap_cia_videotapes.html
title=Veteran prosecutor takes over CIA probe
first=Matt
last=Apuzzo
publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
date=2008-01-03]In
December 2000 , Durham revealed secretFBI documents that convinced a judge to toss out the1968 murder convictions ofEnrico Tameleo ,Joseph Salvati ,Peter J. Limone andLouis Greco because they had been framed by the agency. In 2007, the documents helped Salvati, Limone, and the families of the two other men - who died in prison - win aUS$ 101.7 million civil judgment against the government.cite web
url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/01/07/us_prosecutors_tenacity_is_rewarded/
title=US prosecutor's tenacity is rewarded
first=Shelley
last=Murphy
publisher=The Boston Globe
date=2008-01-07]Amid allegations that FBI
informant sJames "Whitey" Bulger andStephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi had corrupted their handlers,US Attorney General Janet Reno named Durhamspecial prosecutor in1999 . He oversaw a task force of FBI agents brought in from other offices to investigate theBoston office's handling of informants.In 2002, Durham helped secure the conviction of retired FBI agent
John J. Connolly Jr. , who was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federalracketeering charges for protecting Bulger and Flemmi from prosecution and warning Bulger to flee just before the gangster's 1995 indictment.Durham's task force also gathered evidence against retired FBI agent
H. Paul Rico who was indicted inOklahoma on state charges that he helped Bulger and Flemmi kill aTulsa businessman in 1981. Rico died in 2004 before the case went to trial.Durham also led a series of high-profile prosecutions in
Connecticut against theNew England Mafia and corrupt politicians, including former governorJohn G. Rowland .References
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