The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice

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Dan Slepian

The Sing Sing Files

One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice

Dan Slepian

$36.99

Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Celadon Books
30 December 2025

Biography; Biography: general; True crime; Penology & punishment; Media, information & communication industries

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.

By: Dan Slepian
Imprint: Celadon Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 208mm, Width: 135mm, Spine: 14mm
Weight: 454g
ISBN: 9781250897725
ISBN 10: 1250897726
Pages: 240
Publication Date: 30 December 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

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.