Louis N. Scarcella

Louis Scarcella is a retired American NYPD detective who is known for allegedly framing dozens of innocent men for crimes they did not commit. He initially experienced notoriety during the "crack boom" of the 1980s-1990s. As a member of the Brooklyn North Homicide Squad, Scarcella, along with his longtime partner Stephen Chmil, built a reputation for obtaining convictions in difficult cases. More recently, Scarcella has been in the public eye due to a number of convictions having been overturned as a result of the detective's misconduct. As of July 2018, 14 men have had their convictions overturned as a result of Scarcella's involvement and between 40 and 70 investigations involving Scarcella, which led to convictions, are under review by the Kings County District Attorney's Office.