Convictions tossed against 15 men who say Chicago cop framed them
CHICAGO — A judge on Thursday threw out convictions against 15 men who allege they were framed by a corrupt former Chicago Police sergeant and his underlings who demanded protection payoffs from residents and drug dealers in a city housing project.
Judge LeRoy Martin Jr. agreed to dismiss the charges after Cook County prosecutors confirmed at a brief hearing that they no longer had faith in the credibility of convictions brought against the men who were arrested on various drug charges from 2003 to 2008 by the rogue cop Ronald Watts and officers under his charge.
“In good conscience we could not see these convictions stand,” said Mark Rotert, who heads the Cook County State’s Attorney’s conviction integrity unit.
The mass exoneration is the latest mark on the Chicago Police Department, which has come under fire in the city’s black and Latino communities for unnecessarily using deadly force, police brutality and mis- treatment of minorities.
The U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report in the final days of the Obama administration about the Chicago Police Department finding that the city’s police force is beset by widespread racial bias, poor training and feckless oversight of officers accused of misconduct.
Following the dismissal of charges against the 15 men on Thursday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a joint statement that they had “zero tolerance for abuse, misconduct or any unlawful actions” by law enforcement.
More convictions could po- tentially be overturned as the integrity unit says it will review any credible complaints.
The dismissals come two months after lawyers for the
15 men filed a petition on their behalf asking that their drug convictions be overturned because they had been framed by Watts.
Watts and another officer, Kallat Mohammed, pleaded guilty on federal charges in
2013 for stealing money from a drug courier who had been working as an FBI informant. Watts received a 22-month sentence, and Mohammed was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison for the shakedowns.
One petitioner who had has conviction overturned, Leonard Gipson, 36, filed a complaint with the police department after he was arrested in 2003 and says Watts planted drugs on him. Four months later with charges still pending in the first arrest, he said Watts arrested him and planted drugs on him once again. “Everybody knew if you’re not going to pay Watts, you were going to jail,” Gipson said.