NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi is partnering with the University of Virginia School of Law's Project for Informed Reform to review cases connected to disgraced Norfolk detective Robert Glenn Ford.
"We've opened the files," said Fatehi during his exclusive interview with News 3 ahead of a news conference announcing the partnership. "I'm not going to play 'hide the ball' anymore like prosecutors of the 1990s and the 2000s did."
Fatehi said the UVA School of Law's attorneys and law students will act as an independent third party to review cases connected to Ford.
"The tragedy of investigator Ford's crimes is that it undermines any work that he did that was not bad," said Fatehi. "It causes everyone to question who was imprisoned because of the poison that came from his having touched a case."
Ford, who worked as a homicide and drug detective for the Norfolk Police Department in the 1980s and 1990s, is infamous for his role in the wrongful conviction and incarceration of the “Norfolk Four”. Ford used intimidating tactics to force four sailors to falsely confess to the 1997 rape and murder of Michelle Moore Bosko, even though no evidence at the crime scene connected the men to the woman’s rape and murder. Each of the sailors spent roughly a decade in prison. They were later exonerated.
While Ford was not criminally charged for his role in the Norfolk Four case, the Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested him for extortion, conspiracy and making false statements in unrelated cases during his time as a detective with the Norfolk Police Department. According to the Associated Press, Ford took tens of thousands of dollars in bribes from drug dealers in exchange for getting them favorable treatment at sentencing. A federal judge sentenced him to 12 years in prison for those crimes in 2011. He served a decade of that sentence and is now a free man.
"We're still figuring out the extent of that damage [that Robert Glenn Ford may have caused], and that's just really horrifying," said UVA Innocence Project attorney Juliet Hatchett.
Prior to this new partnership, investigations by attorneys with the University of Virginia Innocence Project indicate Ford’s history of false statements, extortion and coercion led to the wrongful conviction and incarceration of several people, including Joseph Carter. Carter spent 27 years in prison for the 1989 murder of Juan Nunez-Reyes in Norfolk.
“I went blank,” said Carter, referring to the moment he was found guilty and sentenced to two life sentences plus 30 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. “It definitely got dark [in prison].”
Carter said Ford tried to pressure him to confess to the murder during interrogations, but Carter maintained his innocence.
UVA Innocence Project attorneys said their review of the evidence in Carter’s case revealed witnesses initially did not name Carter as a suspect, but after interrogations with Ford, they changed their stories and identified Carter as the murderer. No evidence, including fingerprints at the crime scene, connected Carter to the crime.
By August 2021, former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam granted Carter an absolute pardon. Northam said Carter was “an unfortunate victim of Norfolk Detective Glenn Ford, who used his official capacity to extort witnesses in order to yield high solvability percentages.”
Carter received compensation from the Virginia General Assembly this summer for the time he spent in prison.
“There's no money, amount of money […] that could make up for 27 years,” said Carter. “It's sad that the taxpayers have to pay me for what [Ford] did.”
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According to the UVA Innocence Project, Ford’s documented history of extortion and conspiracy also led to the conviction and incarceration of Gilbert Merritt in 2001 and Kevin Knight in 2002. Each man served nearly 20 years in prison for murders they did not commit. Former Virginia Governor Ralph Northam pardoned the men.
Norfolk Commonwealth's Attorney Ramin Fatehi said if they can prove Ford broke the law during his time as a detective, he could face charges.
Carter said if Ford is charged with any crimes connected to previous cases, he hopes Ford will return to prison.
“He needs to feel what we felt,” said Carter. “For me, you need to feel 27 years. For another guy, you need to feel 20 something years. For another guy, it could be 10 years. So basically, I'm saying life imprisonment.”
During Friday's news conference, Eric Wilson, a member of the Norfolk Four, said he hopes others who maintain their innocence will come forward and said he believes the review helps build trust in the judicial system.
"It is better to have a guilty man go free than imprison an innocent man for a day and I think we've forgotten that in our system," he said, referencing a famous law quote.
An attorney for Ford declined to comment on the review.
The UVA School of Law is asking anyone who believes their case, or their loved one's case, was impacted by Robert Glenn Ford to email deirdre@virginia.edu or call 434-924-3732.
