Scores of colleagues of a former FBI agent convicted in a mob case urged Attorney General Eric Holder to order a probe of the ex-official’s prosecution, The Associated Press reported Thursday.
The former agents petitioned Holder to appoint a special counsel to investigate the prosecution of John Connolly, an agent who worked on cases against New England mob bosses James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi. In June, Connolly, 70, will complete a federal prison term from his 2002 conviction on racketeering and obstruction of justice charges and will then begin a 40-year sentence on a 2008 conviction in Florida on second-degree murder charges stemming from a 1982 mob killing. The charges stem from his relationship with the mobsters.
“I’ve never seen them go after a gangster like they have John,” former FBI agent Joseph Pistone told the AP. “He was dedicated as an FBI agent. He got all kinds of commendations. All of a sudden he goes wrong? That’s kind of hard to believe.”
The DOJ has declined to take up the former agents’ grievances so far, noting his unresolved appeal of his conviction in Florida, according to the AP.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Durham and Fred Wyshak, the lead prosecutors on the federal case, declined to comment to the news wire.
Michael Von Zamft, who was a prosecutor in the Florida case, told the AP the claim that Connolly is innocent is “just ridiculous.”
“Connolly had his trial. He got convicted,” Von Zamft told the news wire. “They attacked it with new evidence, and they lost that one, too.”
