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Convicted killer serving life sentence is freed after unanimous Mass. parole board vote — despite 19 prison violations

Wednesday, April 29, 2026•
4 min read
MDN Staff
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Convicted killer serving life sentence is freed after unanimous Mass. parole board vote — despite 19 prison violations

Lewis Franklin shot 30-year-old John Falcone in the back in 2004. The DA says Franklin only pursued rehabilitation after a court ruling made him eligible for release.

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BROCKTON — Lewis Franklin was 18 years old when he shot John Falcone in the back as Falcone tried to run. That was 2004. Falcone was 30.
Franklin was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole. For two decades, that's where the story was supposed to end.
It didn't.
On March 24, the Massachusetts Parole Board voted unanimously to set Franklin free — despite 19 disciplinary violations during his time in prison, and over the objections of the Plymouth County District Attorney's office and the victim's family.
As first reported by MassLive, Franklin's release was made possible by the 2024 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in Commonwealth v. Mattis, which found it unconstitutional to sentence "emerging adults" — people aged 18 to 20 at the time of their crime — to life without the possibility of parole. Franklin was resentenced to life with parole eligibility, and the board took it from there.

What happened on August 23, 2004

Franklin and Falcone were outside an abandoned building in Brockton. There was an argument over a narcotics transaction. It got loud. Franklin pulled out a gun and fired four shots at Falcone as he tried to flee. One struck him in the back. Falcone died.
Franklin was convicted of first-degree murder in October 2009 and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison.

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19 violations. Then rehab.

In opposing Franklin's release, Plymouth County Assistant DA Arne Hantson pointed to Franklin's prison record — 19 disciplinary reports over two decades behind bars.
The DA's office also flagged something the parole board apparently wasn't troubled by: Franklin only began participating in institutional programming after the Mattis ruling made him eligible for release. Before that court decision, when life without parole meant exactly what it said, there was no rehabilitation effort to speak of.
The timing raises a question the board didn't answer: was the change genuine, or strategic?
A medical provider and a relative of Franklin testified in favor of his release at the December hearing. A prosecutor and a member of Falcone's family testified against it.
The board sided with Franklin. Unanimously.

The terms

Franklin is being released to a Department of Mental Health Group Living Environment. His conditions include:
  • Electronic monitoring for six months
  • Nightly curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
  • No drugs or alcohol, with regular testing
  • No contact with Falcone's family
His release date falls approximately 45 days after the March 24 decision — around May 8.

A pattern

Franklin is far from the first convicted killer to walk free under the Mattis ruling. Since the SJC's decision, at least 39 convicted killers for crimes committed as "emerging adults" have been granted parole — and the parole board has been granting releases steadily.
John Falcone was 30 years old when he was shot in the back. His killer served 21 years, racked up 19 violations, discovered rehabilitation once freedom was on the table, and walked out with an ankle bracelet and a curfew.
The parole board called it "compatible with the welfare of society."

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