Many years ago, a Quad Cities newspaper used a photo of me in a story about a local murderer who was captured in Texas. So, I guess I can relate a little to this story:
Two men claim photographs in the Chicago Tribune misidentified them as high-ranking mobsters, prompting one of the men Wednesday to sue the newspaper.
Retired businessman Frank Calabrese is suing the Tribune Co. for more than $1 million in damages, claiming defamation.
His picture ran Tuesday as part of a package about the indictment of several mobsters — including one named Frank Calabrese Sr. — on charges of plotting at least 18 murders. […]
Meanwhile, the Tribune also is investigating the accuracy of a photograph that ran in Wednesday’s editions, Wetli said.
That photograph, which the newspaper said in another story was taken by a college student, identified a man as Joseph “The Clown” Lombardo, a 76-year-old reputed mob boss who is on the lam after being indicted Monday along with Frank Calabrese Sr.
But a man identified as Stanley Swieton told Chicago reporters he was the person in the picture.
I didn’t sue when this happened to me, but I didn’t tell the editors my intentions right away and they were more than a little freaked out when I mentioned that my mother lived in their circulation area. Actually, Mom thought the whole thing was hilarious, and one of the paper’s columnists ended up writing a great little story about her, so it all worked out OK as far as I was concerned.