Judge spares man wrongly held from prison

A Brooklyn man who spent 20 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit was spared prison Wednesday for a crime he did commit.

U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said Scott Fappiano, 50, who was exonerated by DNA and released in 2006 on a mistaken state rape conviction, deserved a break on a new mob-related extortion case because of the trauma he had suffered in jail.

"I can't imagine what a life you've had, and it's difficult to sit in judgment of you today," said Matsumoto, citing assaults Fappiano had suffered in jail and his efforts to deal with drug and alcohol problems.

Fappiano, an alleged Colombo family associate, took up with the mob upon his release from prison, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty last year to the charge of extortionate collection of gambling debts. He faced up to 20 years, but Matsumoto, sitting in federal court in Brooklyn, gave him 3 years' probation.

"Five years from now, you'll know you made the right decision," said Fappiano, who promised to stay clean. He was freed through the efforts of the Innocence Project, and collected a $1.9 million settlement from the state.