Man gets 20 years to life after retrial in 1995 murder case

By JENNIFER PELTZ
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York man will return to prison — for now — after temporarily going free amid questions about a prominent detective’s conduct, then getting convicted again of murder at a recent retrial. Eliseo DeLeon was sentenced Thursday to 20 years to life for the 1995 killing of Fausto Cordero. DeLeon spent 24 years behind bars before his conviction was overturned in 2019. The 45-year-old was convicted again last month. Thursday’s sentence means that he is eligible to immediately seek parole. His lawyers say he was framed by retired Detective Louis Scarcella. Convictions in nearly 20 cases involving him have been overturned in the past decade after he was accused of eliciting false confessions and witness identifications. Scarcella denies any wrongdoing.