City will pay $62.5M to victims of disgraced CPD Detective Reynaldo Guevara

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The City of Chicago has agreed to pay $62.5 million to victims of disgraced Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara, men who were wrongfully convicted of violent crimes they did not commit, mostly during the 1980s and 1990s.

"We need to still hear what each individual case is, but there really is no wiggle room for the city to get out of these other than to settle with the plaintiffs," said 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack.

Exoneree Ricardo Rodriguez was awarded $5.5 million Wednesday. He was not in City Council to watch the vote but instead was scheduled to appear before a judge on a pending kidnapping case that he was arrested on in 2019, one year after his exoneration.

And while his civil attorneys did not address that case, they did say of the settlement, "Mr. Rodriguez spent 23 years in prison for a crime he did not commit...Had the City gone to trial, it would have been on the hook for a verdict many multiples larger than today's settlement."

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Those numbers will undoubtedly be added to. Even as dozens of Guevara's cases have already been overturned, many more are pending. The petitions of seven men, all of whom served full sentences for crimes they say Guevara framed them for, were heard in court Wednesday.

"It's been a long time coming. I did 20 years for something I didn't do," said Tyrece Williams.

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And while it's too late for these men to get decades of their lives back, they said they're seeking the ability to move forward.

"I'm 50 years old now. It's been 35 years and I'm still trying to clear my name," said Edwin Ortiz, who served 20 years in prison.

Each one of these new petitions will be reviewed individually. And while the process may take months, if approved, the exoneration essentially entitles each man to then in turn sue the city, meaning taxpayers can expect to be on the hook for Guevara's transgressions for years to come.