A Rogue's Revenge

By Adam Zagorin

At the peak of his notoriety, some folks called him, inevitably, an international man of mystery; others, the death merchant. He was the subject of the 1986 best seller Manhunt: the Dramatic Pursuit of a CIA Agent Turned Terrorist, by Peter Maas. The former Marine, 77, stands 6 ft. 4 in. tall and was someone to be reckoned with. But Edwin Wilson's roller-coaster ride as a freelance spy flew off the rails in 1982, when he was lured out of Libya in a sting operation conducted by U.S. marshals. He then was convicted in a series of sensational trials for gunrunning, selling 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to Libya and conspiring to murder two of his prosecutors. After that, Wilson was sentenced to 52 years' hard time in maximum-security prisons.

For the past year, Wilson has been quietly plotting his vindication, and he is about to make a big splash again. Released on parole in 2004 after a federal judge overturned his conviction on the Libya charges brought in Texas, Wilson, who had credit for time served on the other counts, has not been content simply to breathe the fresh air of freedom. Instead he has filed a lawsuit in a Houston federal court against his prosecutors that will probably embarrass the CIA and Justice Department at a time when both are struggling to uphold their credibility as they work to combat terrorism. At issue is his consistent claim that his foreign crimes were committed at least implicitly under the direction and authority of the CIA. In two trials, the government introduced a statement, signed by a senior CIA official, denying that Wilson had any "direct" or "indirect" contact with the agency at the time of his alleged criminal activity, which occurred after he left the CIA in 1971 and formed a private consulting company. But that was untrue, as Wilson aims to prove with government documents that are now attached to his lawsuit and were referred to by the judge who overturned his conviction.

Largely using the Freedom of Information Act to compel the government to turn over papers, Wilson has dug up official records of more than 80 contacts he had with CIA officials--many of them high ranking--during the period in question. Those documents show that prosecutors and the CIA officials assisting them were aware of the contacts. The foreman of the jury that found Wilson guilty of selling C-4 to Libya, which was subject to a total U.S. arms embargo at the time, told ABC News earlier this year, "If we had known [of Wilson's CIA links], I could say unequivocally that there would not have been a guilty verdict." It was on the basis of the newfound evidence that District Court Judge Lynn Hughes threw out Wilson's conviction, saying from the bench, "One would have to work hard to conceive of a more fundamentally unfair process ... than the fabrication of false data by the government ... presented knowingly by the prosecutor in the courtroom with the express approval of his superiors in Washington."

In his lawsuit Wilson is going after a bevy of prominent onetime Justice Department officials, including two who are now federal judges. He is seeking unspecified compensatory and punitive damages for his wrongful conviction. "I am a CIA mercenary who was betrayed by the legal system and a government that approved my actions," he told TIME. His legal documents, which were obtained by TIME, do not show that the sale of C-4 explosives for which he was charged was CIA approved. There is evidence that the agency in another instance used Wilson to barter weapons or explosives with Libya for Soviet military equipment that the U.S. wanted to study. His lawyers have offered evidence that the agency, among other things, proposed that Wilson use his consulting firm to help transport handguns and submachine guns to Saudi Arabia. They also say it arranged the testing of body armor for the Shah of Iran and that Wilson kept in almost daily touch with senior CIA officials, proposing agents for recruitment and informing on attempts by Libya to purchase weapons and nuclear technology.

Wilson does not go so far as to claim it was the CIA that asked him to conspire to kill two of his prosecutors, a charge that stands. One of them, Lawrence Barcella, whom Wilson names as a defendant, says, "His latest claims are groundless." As with similar cases in the past, the defendants will probably ask for a dismissal on the grounds that they were acting in their official capacities, for which the law provides immunity in certain cases. Some may argue that Wilson's sale of explosives to Libya was illegal, regardless of whether the CIA was involved. But if the case moves forward, it could force into the open thousands of old and secret government records, which would embarrass the CIA all over again.