Former Fairfax County police officer Jonathan Freitag is accused of racial profiling and lying in the police report that lead to Wilson s conviction.
Judge Daniel Ortiz threw out the conviction, writing, Freitag s false statements undermined judicial integrity in the public s eyes and left a man sitting in prison for almost two years.
Freitag resigned from Fairfax County police and is under investigation by Fairfax and the FBI for building cases on lies. What occurred in this case exposed a failing in our criminal justice system,” Ortiz said. “When the rules work together, they turn the gears of the judicial machinery towards justice. Instead, this officer s false representations disrupted the entire mechanism.
Updated on April 22, 2021 at 9:40 am
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Former D.C. firefighter Elon Wilson was released from prison Wednesday after evidence surfaced that the Fairfax County police officer who pulled him over in 2018 lied about the reason for the traffic stop.
Wilson was freed after spending nearly two years in prison. Download our NBC Washington app for iOS or Android to get alerts for local breaking news and weather.
Former Fairfax County police officer Jonathan Freitag, who stopped Wilson, is under investigation by the department and the FBI. Prosecutors are now reviewing about 400 convictions linked to him.
Wilson was the father of an infant and a respected member of the D.C. fire department when he was pulled over by Freitag. The officer s lies landed him in prison, a judge ruled.
DC firefighter released from prison after arresting officer accused of lying
By FOX 5 DC Digital Team and Sierra Fox
Published
DC firefighter to be released from prison
A DC firefighter will be released from prison after the discovery that an officer lied about his case.
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (FOX 5 DC) - A Black D.C. firefighter has been released from prison after the arresting officer was accused of lying about what happened during a traffic stop with evidence revealing the incident was racially motivated.
The Virginia Department of Corrections notified FOX 5 s Sierra Fox shortly after 7 p.m. that Elon Wilson was officially a free man after leaving the Nottoway Work Center.
A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge has overturned the 2019 conviction of a Black D.C. firefighter, saying the case was built on false representations from the arresting county police officer.
The opinion and ruling from Judge Daniel Ortiz was expected after he announced Friday he was inclined to rule in favor of the defendant, Elon Wilson.
Ortiz wrote Wilson had “demonstrated by clear and convincing evidence that a fraud was committed upon the Court in obtaining Wilson’s guilty plea.”
Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano had filed a motion in support of Wilson’s petition to vacate judgment and release Wilson from prison.
A Virginia judge says he is likely to toss out a conviction against a former D.C. firefighter serving a three-year prison term on drug charges, and prosecutors say they will seek to toss out another 400 convictions linked to the same arresting officer.