Free Republic

Monday, October 23, 2006Former CIA spy branded a traitor wants to clear his name Like a story in a spy novel, Edwin Wilson is out to prove he was set upBy TRACY JOHNSONP-I REPORTEREdwin Wilson began this quest from a solitary-confinement cell, where he wrote letters seeking top-secret documents to show that his own government betrayed him. The notorious ex-spy once traveled the world, gathering intelligence while playing the role of global businessman. He later was tied to shipping a planeload of explosives to Libya, sending him to prison for decades.     Scott Eklund / P-I   Former CIA...

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A federal judge on Tuesday threw out the 1983 conviction of former CIA (news - web sites) operative Edwin Wilson for selling tons of explosives to Libya, finding that prosecutors knowingly used false testimony and hid evidence that supported his defense. U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes' opinion, written on Monday but made public on Tuesday, vacates Wilson's conviction for selling 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to the Libyan government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi (news - web sites). Wilson has been in prison since 1982, serving 52 years for three convictions including the arm sales to Libya....

A federal judge in Houston has thrown out the 20-year-old arms smuggling conviction of a former CIA agent, outlining in scathing terms how federal officials knowingly used a false affidavit at his trial and concealed the act through years of appeals. Edwin Wilson was convicted in Houston in 1983 of smuggling arms to Libya at a time when the threat of Libyan terrorism was major news. Congress was mounting investigations into controversial CIA activities around the globe, and CIA administrators were actively trying to deflect criticism. Wilson, now 75, has been in prison ever since, serving a 52-year sentence. His...

HOUSTON (AP) - A federal judge threw out the conviction of a former CIA operative who has spent 20 years in prison for selling arms to Libya, saying the government knowingly used false evidence against him. Edwin P. Wilson, 75, was convicted in 1983 of shipping 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya - something he said he did to ingratiate himself with the Libyan government at the CIA's request. In a scathing opinion released Tuesday, U.S. Judge Lynn N. Hughes said the federal government failed to correct information about Wilson's service to the CIA that it admitted internally...