Man convicted by tainted NYPD cop Scarcella freed after 24 years behind bars

A Brooklyn man who spent 24 years in prison on a murder rap was set free Tuesday, making him the 15th suspect busted by tainted former detective Louis Scarcella to have his conviction thrown out.

“This court does not find the testimony of the detective to be credible,” Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dena Douglas said before ordering a new trial for Eliseo DeLeon, who was convicted in 1996.

“Detectives Scarcella and (partner Stephen) Chmil demonstrated a disregard for the law that greatly troubles this court,” Douglas said.

The scandal-scarred Scarcella prepared written testimony implicating DeLeon in the shooting of Fausto Cordero in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hill neighborhood, leading to his conviction, the judge said.

Scarcella claimed DeLeon admitted at the time of his arrest that his gun went off when Fausto grabbed for the weapon, killing him.

DeLeon maintained the statement was fabricated.

Bail was set at $100,000, and he was expected to be released Tuesday.

“The only thing I can do is go out there and try to be a productive citizen in society, try to give back to the people who gave back to me,” DeLeon said as he left the courthouse Tuesday.

Prosecutors — who asked he be held on $250,000 bail — have not announced their next move, but said they are unlikely to let DeLeon go free without a fight.

“We do not believe that the defendant established his innocence at the hearing and are confident that we will prevail on appeal or in a potential retrial,” said Oren Yaniv, a spokesman for the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office.

“The defendant was identified by multiple witnesses who never recanted, and he admitted his guilt on multiple occasions,” Yaniv said. “However, we consented to his release on bail because he has served the majority of his sentence.”

DeLeon’s lawyer, Cary London, said the DA should just drop it.

“I think if the DA’s office does anything except dismiss the indictment, then I don’t think they’re the progressives that they hold themselves out to be,” London said. “I think it’s ludicrous to suggest that Scarcella’s tactics were anything but illegal.”

Scarcella and Chmil have been tied to more than a dozen tainted cases.

Earlier this year, Chmil admitted that the partners used “questionable tactics” in making busts.

Asked if he had a message for the dirty detectives, DeLeon said, “I have nothing to say to them.”

“They’re going to have to live their lives,” he said. “They’re going to have to be judged by God.”