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"There are some within the U.S. attorney's offices across the country who are so career-oriented -- and they know careers are based on victories, not losses -- they often cut corners to assure those victories," says Woods, "oftentimes by withholding exculpatory evidence."

Still, Woods believes that most of the blame for failing to make that evidence available rests with the FBI. "It's been a problem for the 36 years I've been dealing with the FBI," he says.

Every morning Dale Brown raises the American flag outside his home, and he thinks about the fact that he will never achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut and perhaps hoisting that flag on the moon. When he's not getting therapy on his gimpy right leg and arm, he spends much of his time behind a large computer. In a bizarre twist, Brown now makes a living by auditing NASA contracts.

Many of the rooms in Brown's house are filled with boxes containing thousands of documents related to Operation Lightning Strike. A picture of Hal Francis is pinned to his wall. More than six years after his trial, Brown is still obsessed with his battle with federal authorities. He and his former partners sued the FBI for allegedly destroying their business, but the case was dismissed by both the Fifth Circuit Court and the U.S. Supreme Court. In its ruling, the Fifth Circuit stated that evidence indicated intentional indifference by the FBI with regard to the potential harm Operation Lightning Strike posed to people and businesses with no predisposition to be involved in a crime. However, the court dismissed the case on the grounds that the agents were not afforded due process. The court did say, "The facts, as pleaded, establish at least that level of federal agent culpability as Operation Lightning Strike evolved into a disastrous boondoggle." Still, Brown hopes to eventually tell his story in a book and movie.

Meanwhile, Sharon Hogge has adopted a different approach in putting her life back together. These days, she and a couple of family members have their own consulting firm. Unlike Brown, she is working to put Operation Lightning Strike behind her, but she concedes it's not easy. Even though she was found not guilty, she does not believe the system worked. If it had, she says, she would never have been in federal court in the first place.

"It hurts, and it will never stop hurting," says Hogge. "I don't know how to compensate for it. I don't think Dale Brown has an answer either. The only thing I can equate it to is that I was walking along a street and got hit by a bus. But the best way to win is to continue to be successful. I can still go forward."

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