Edwin Wilson, an arms merchant imprisoned in 1982, was vindicated today by an appeals court which found rampant prosecutorial misconduct in his case.

A federal judge Tuesday threw out the 1983 conviction of former CIA operative Edwin Wilson for selling tons of explosives to Libya, finding that prosecutors knowingly used false testimony and hid evidence that supported his defense.

U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes' opinion, written Monday but made public Tuesday, vacates Wilson's conviction for selling 20 tons of C-4 plastic explosives to the Libyan government of Col. Muammar Gaddafi.

Wilson has been in prison since 1982, serving 52 years for three convictions including the arm sales to Libya. His lawyer thinks the 75-year-old prisoner could now be released if the government doesn't appeal the decision, which was scathing in its condemnation of prosecutorial methods.

The judge labeled an affidavit from a former top CIA official "nothing but a lie."