Ex-Colombo boss Victor Orena doomed to die in prison after judge denies compassionate release
The federal appeals court on Wednesday denied the compassionate release of a legendary Colombo mob boss who is now critically ill with dementia, thereby ensuring his death in prison. Three judges on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals denied Victor “Little Vic” Orena’s compassionate release request, agreeing with a lower-court jurist who upheld his life sentence.
In the early 1990s, the Colombos’ acting boss, Orena, was sentenced to life in prison after he was convicted in a federal court in Brooklyn of murder, racketeering, and several other crimes.
In light of his failing health and fresh evidence uncovered by his lawyer, the now 87-year-old had asked a federal judge in Brooklyn to release him in 2021.
The appeals panel concluded on Wednesday that despite his health challenges being “extraordinary and compelling” the district court judge firmly ruled that this wasn’t enough to overturn his life sentence.
Victor Orena in handcuffs leaves 26 Federal Plaza with FBI agent R. Lindley DeVecchio (r) on April 1, 1992. (Jack Smith / New York Daily News)
If fresh evidence is found proving Orena’s innocence in the future, it would need to be apart of a separate appeal, not in conjunction with a compassionate release appeal.
Orena’s crimes, which landed him in prison for the rest of his life, were rooted in a mafia civil war between Orena and Carmine “Junior” Persico loyalists. The conflict resulted in over 10 deaths.
Currently, Orena is being held at FMC Devens, a federal medical center with a minimum-security jail nearby.
According to Orena’s lawyer, David Schoen, the decision is “very disappointing” and that the prosecution is the most corrupt in the history of the Department of Justice.
“It is absurd and completely unfair to deny a trial court judge the discretion to at least consider whether new evidence since the trial ought to be relevant to the appropriateness of a terminally ill defendant,” he stated.
source: NY Post
