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| Feds Say Four Wrongly Convicted of Murder |
| By Associated Press |
| Published: 12/24/2002 |
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Two Illinois men convicted in a drug-related kidnapping and killing were released on bond last week after prosecutors proclaimed their innocence and announced indictments against the gang members they contend were the real killers. Omar Aguirre, 33, and Duarte Santos, 31, were freed after a Chicago judge granted a request from state prosecutors to release them on bond while they continued to re-examine their cases. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said two other men convicted in the 1997 killing of Sindulfo Miranda also were innocent, but remain in prison for different crimes. The four men's sentences range from 12 years to life in prison. Two cars full of family members greeted Santos as he left jail in the pouring rain, dressed in his inmate blues. Santos had pleaded guilty to aggravated kidnapping and was sentenced in February to 12 years in prison. Aguirre, who left without speaking to reporters, had been convicted of murder in 1999 and sentenced to 55 years in prison. Fitzgerald and other federal and state authorities announced the indictments Wednesday of nine alleged members of the Carman Brothers Crew gang on murder, drug and other charges. Some of the men were charged in connection with the death of Miranda, who prosecutors say was kidnapped, tortured and killed on Chicago's North Side because he was thought to be a rival drug dealer. The allegedly wrongful convictions occurred in a state whose governor ordered a moratorium on executions in 2000 after 13 death row inmates were found to be wrongfully convicted. Federal and state authorities lay part of the blame on a key witness who has been indicted for allegedly providing false information during the investigation of the slaying. |
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