NORFOLK, Va. — The Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is partnering with the University of Virginia School of Law to review cases connected to a former police detective convicted on extortion charges more than a decade ago.
The office announced the partnership on Friday, saying it will allow for an examination to uncover any misconduct by former Norfolk Police Detective Robert Glenn Ford, who the office said was involved in the wrongful convictions of several people.
The partnership will review all closed prosecution files connected to Ford's investigative work, the office said.
Ford was accused of taking bribes from criminal defendants, telling prosecutors those defendants were helping homicide investigations and securing their release on "bogus cooperation agreements."
He was convicted in federal court on Oct. 27, 2010, for conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right, extortion, and providing false statements to the FBI. He was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison in February 2011 and has since been released.
According to the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, Ford also extracted false confessions in several high-profile criminal cases, including from three juveniles in the 1990 murder of a Norfolk restaurant owner and from four Navy sailors in a 1997 rape.
The sailors, later known as the "Norfolk Four," were eventually exonerated.
Eric Wilson is one of those sailors.
"I was about to sign my reenlistment papers with the Navy when I got arrested was thrown in prison and lost my career," Wilson said.
He’s asking people to stand against injustices they see in the community.
"Can’t fix it alone," Wilson said. "We need cops to come forward, say when they see something wrong. We need people to come forward and not be scared to talk to somebody."
“Our justice system is only as strong as people’s faith in its ability to deliver honest justice and show that the right people are in prison for the right reasons,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi wrote in a news release.
“In the 13 years since Robert Glenn Ford’s federal conviction, there has never been a comprehensive review of then-Detective Ford’s cases to determine whether his misdeeds extended beyond those that federal investigators and prosecutors as well as diligent innocence lawyers have already uncovered."