MIAMI — A divided appeals court Wednesday threw out the murder conviction and lengthy prison sentence for a former FBI agent in the decades-old mob-style killing of a gambling executive, one of numerous slayings linked to jailed Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger.
Florida’s 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled 2-1 that former agent John Connolly was improperly convicted and sentenced to 40 years for his role in the 1982 slaying of World Jai-Alai president John Callahan. Connolly, 73, remains in prison, and prosecutors vowed to appeal. The court took too long to issue its ruling, said one of Connolly’s attorneys, Bruce Fleisher, who, with others, is trying to release him.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said prosecutors were as committed to the case now as they were years ago.
A hit man testified in the 2008 trial that he fatally shot Callahan after Connolly tipped Bulger and his lieutenant, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, that the executive would implicate them in another death. The Associated Press
