The Sing Sing Files - by Dan Slepian

About the Book

"It wasn't the September 11 attacks or the murders he'd investigated for the NYPD that haunted him, the detective told journalist Dan Slepian, but a 1990 case where two men were sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison for a murder they didn't commit. When Slepian, a veteran producer for NBC's Dateline, asked how he knew, the cop replied, "Because I know who the real killers are." Slepian couldn't shake what the detective had told him-and what it said about the criminal justice system. It began a two-decade-long personal and professional odyssey in which Slepian used his investigative skills to prove the innocence of not just those two men, but of four others also falsely convicted of murder by New York courts. The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice is Slepian's cinematic account of challenging a system fiercely resistant to rectifying or even acknowledging its mistakes and their consequences. The reader follows Slepian on prison visits, street reporting, and during his interactions with prosecutors, defense attorneys, witnesses, and police for the Dateline stories that eventually led to freedom for the imprisoned men. At the book's center is the friendship that developed between Slepian and Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez, who, from his cell at Sing Sing, directed Slepian to other innocent men until he, too, was finally released in 2021 after serving decades in prison. Like Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, The Sing Sing Files is a powerful account of addressing wrongful imprisonment but in the nation's largest city, not the rural South. Slepian's extraordinary book, at once infuriating and full of hope, shines a light on an injustice whose impact the nation has only begun to confront"--

Book Synopsis

An NBC Dateline producer's cinematic account of his two-decade journey navigating the broken criminal justice system to help free six innocent men

In 2002, Dan Slepian, a veteran producer for NBC's Dateline, received a tip from a Bronx homicide detective that two men were serving twenty-five years to life in prison for a 1990 murder they did not commit.

Haunted by what the detective had told him, Slepian began an investigation of the case that eventually resulted in freedom for the two men and launched Slepian on a two-decade personal and professional journey into a deeply flawed justice system fiercely resistant to rectifying--or even acknowledging--its mistakes and their consequences.

The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice is Slepian's account of challenging that system. The story follows Slepian on years of prison visits, court hearings, and street reporting that led to a series of powerful Dateline episodes and eventually to freedom for four other men and to an especially deep and lasting friendship with one of them, Jon-Adrian "JJ" Velazquez. From his cell in Sing Sing, JJ aided Slepian in his investigations until his own release in 2021 after decades in prison.

Like Bryan Stevenson's Just Mercy, The Sing Sing Files is a deeply personal account of wrongful imprisonment and the flaws in our justice system, and a powerful argument for reckoning and accountability. Slepian's extraordinary book, at once painful and full of hope, shines a light on an injustice whose impact the nation has only begun to confront.

Review Quotes

"I've said many times that every wrongful conviction deserves its own book. I've read a hundred of them and, as fascinating as they are, I thought I had reached the point of being shock-proof. But The Sing Sing Files stopped me cold. It's an unforgettable account of one man's uphill journey to free the innocent and expose many of the serious problems in our criminal justice system. It should be read by every rookie cop, brand new prosecutor, and first year law student. And it should be read by you. Hold on!"
--John Grisham, #1 New York Times bestselling author, lawyer, and former member of the Mississippi House of Representatives

"A remarkable, moving account about the lives of people who have been too easily discarded, forgotten, and condemned. These compelling narratives help us understand why we should do better when it comes to punishment and justice in America."
--Bryan Stevenson, New York Times bestselling author of Just Mercy

"Slepian's a master storyteller with a passion for his subject. This is a page turner with stories that will open your mind and heart, and might even change your life the way they changed his."
--John F. Hollway, Executive Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at Penn Law

"Dan Slepian has written a book that is as informative as it is enraging. In these gripping case studies of innocent men wrongfully convicted, you learn how and why the truth often does not prevail in the American justice system. You also get a glimpse of the strength of the human spirit and of heroic efforts to right these wrongs. The stories are inspiring and so is the author. He has spent a career 'given the buried voice sound, ' as one incarcerated man put it. This volume is on full blast with this tour-de-force. This is a must-read for anyone who cares about criminal justice, mass incarceration, or humanity."
--Rachel Barkow, author of Prisoners of Politics: Breaking the Cycle of Mass Incarceration and Professor at NYU, School of Law

"This passionate, gripping, and moving chronicle of a skeptical journalist's twenty year journey investigating injustice leads him, remarkably, to six innocent men, close friends, and a nuanced understanding of the humanity, resilience, and limitless potential of those we imprison, guilty or innocent. Dan Slepian's engrossing insider's narrative lays bare the infuriating incapacity and willful blindness of New York prosecutors, police, defense lawyers, and judges to recognize and correct wrongful convictions. The Sing Sing Files is a vitally important book that inspires hope that we can and will do better."
--Barry Scheck, Co-Founder and Special Counsel, the Innocence Project

"While recounting his heroic efforts to free six wrongfully convicted men, Dan Slepian uncovers the tremendous obstacles to truth and justice that plague our criminal legal system. He shows that the problems are both systemic and personal, as institutions and actors protect their own reputations rather than fix the egregious mistakes and wrongdoings that have ruined the lives of countless people and their families. The Sing Sing Files should inspire readers to create a new generation of leaders who will genuinely pursue justice."
--Marc Howard, director of the Prisons and Justice Initiative at Georgetown
University

"Twenty years, hundreds of visits to prison, thousands of hours investigating to fight for a few men's freedom. Dan Slepian's uncommon determination, willingness to believe, and refusal to look away leaps from these spellbinding pages. But is the miracle of Slepian's obsessiveness required to unmask the brute force of the criminal justice system's machinery, the moral corruption, and the malign negligence that often lubricates it?

I am grateful to Slepian for bearing witness, but I am also shocked and enraged by the story he tells. I would--as I know he would--trade this Olympian effort for one in which thousands of others activate to fight not just for the innocent, but for all the souls who are unnecessarily ground down by what we call the criminal justice system. For those who yearn to be part of this army, this is required reading."
--Nicholas Turner, president and director of the Vera Institute of Justice

"Dateline producer Slepian debuts with a riveting account of his crusade to free six wrongfully convicted men from New York State's Sing Sing prison... Slepian tells his subjects' stories with rigor and compassion, and persuasively argues that America's justice system is "designed to easily imprison the innocent" in the name of closing cases quickly. This is difficult to shake."
--Publishers Weekly

"A gripping, highly effective true-crime synthesis... an excellent addition to the body of work documenting a pervasive societal injustice."
-Kirkus, Starred Review

"You couldn't blame anyone wrongfully incarcerated for trying to get ahold of Slepian, whose dogged reporting for NBC's Dateline has helped free several innocent men and is the subject of his new book, The Sing Sing Files. It's a riveting read--and an infuriating one."
--Vanity Fair

"Compelling and emotionally wrenching....starkly illuminating the unimaginable suffering of the wrongly imprisoned and their families."
--Associated Press

About the Author

Dan Slepian is an award-winning journalist at NBC News and a veteran producer of its signature newsmagazine, Dateline. Over more than two decades at NBC, Slepian has spearheaded dozens of documentaries and hidden-camera investigations, and is known for his in-depth reporting about the criminal legal system and, specifically, wrongful convictions. He has received three Edward R. Murrow Awards, more than a dozen Emmys, and has been recognized by multiple justice organizations across the country. Slepian was the host of Letters from Sing Sing, a podcast that was #1 on Apple's true crime charts and a finalist for the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting.