Editing Edwin P. Wilson (section)

==Arrest, Conviction, and Exoneration==
Wilson’s dealings came under scrutiny in 1976 when a business partner alerted the CIA and FBI. In 1982, he was lured from Libya to the Dominican Republic, arrested, and extradited to the U.S. He faced trials in four federal courts:
	•	Charges:
	◦	Exporting 20 tons of C-4 to Libya (Texas, 1983).
	◦	Attempted murder, criminal solicitation, and conspiring to kill prosecutors, witnesses, and his wife, Barbara (New York, Virginia).
	◦	Overcharging the Department of Defense in the Egypt deal.
	•	Conviction and Defense:
	◦	Wilson was convicted in February 1983 in Texas, sentenced to 17 years and fined $145,000, largely based on a CIA affidavit from Charles A. Briggs claiming Wilson had no post-1971 agency ties. A New York court added a 25-year sentence for attempted murder and related charges, totaling 52 years, much of it in solitary confinement.
	◦	Wilson maintained that his Libyan deals were CIA-authorized to gather intelligence, including on Libya’s nuclear program. He used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents proving 80 post-1971 CIA contacts, contradicting the Briggs affidavit.
	•	Exoneration:
	◦	In October 2003, federal judge Lynn H. Hughes in Houston overturned Wilson’s Texas conviction, ruling that the government used false evidence and suppressed favorable evidence, stating, “America will not defeat Libyan terrorism by double-crossing a part-time informal government agent.” Wilson was released in 2004 after 22 years in prison.
	◦	His other convictions (e.g., attempted murder) were not overturned, and a 2007 civil suit against prosecutors and a CIA official was dismissed due to their immunity.