Defense attorneys say a street-smart but dishonest informant and a federal agent working without oversight manipulated the system to convict France and dozens of others. "They stole the truth," France said. "I don't think I'll ever trust people again. It's too hard. I don't know how a human being with a heart could stand up there and lie about another person. They stole part of my life." She was convicted of being a drug courier -- a crime prosecutors now acknowledge was built on lies. A judge released her in May. Her case was part of a massive operation to stem the flow of drugs in Mansfield. Today, federal prosecutors will meet with a judge to discuss throwing out the convictions of 15 men imprisoned in the same tainted investigation -- including the case against a man serving 30 years in prison. Federal prosecutors in Cleveland charged France and 25 others from Mansfield in 2005, based on the work of informant Jerrell Bray and DEA agent Lee Lucas. Twenty-one people were convicted. |
Instead of a war on drugs, there should be a war on social conservatives.