Man freed after drug charges dropped in crooked-cop case
Ben Baker spent the last decade in jail, professing his innocence of drug charges he’d maintained a corrupt police sergeant framed him for.
On Thursday, the South Side man’s allegations against convicted Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts — in a case that has highlighted an alleged code of silence within the department — finally earned him his freedom.
Baker, 43, was released late Thursday from Robinson Correctional Center in downstate Robinson after the University of Chicago’s Exoneration Project succeeded in having the charges dismissed.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Baker’s sister, Gale Anderson, who drove down with Baker’s niece to bring him home. “I’m still just shocked, and don’t think I’ll believe it until I see him on the other side and hold him.”
“I’m still confused by how fast it all happened. I’m on the road but I still can’t believe it,” Baker said Thursday evening, driving home with Anderson.
“God is good. I don’t know what to say. I’m just nervous and a little bit anxious,” he said. “I want some oxtail soup, and I want to take a bath in a real bathtub. Then we’ll see.”
Baker, a father of seven with grandchildren he has never known, was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to 14 years on charges of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver.
Then living in the Ida B. Wells public housing development, Baker was arrested on March 23, 2005, accused by arresting officers of having been seen in a third-floor stairwell with drugs in his hand. The officers said they chased him to the bottom of the stairs, where he was found with additional narcotics.
Baker maintained throughout his arrest, incarceration and trial that he had been framed by Watts and a cadre of corrupt Wentworth District police officers under him. Baker insisted Watts’ tactical team routinely shook down drug dealers within the development for protection fees and a share of dealings; framing those who didn’t go along.
Baker’s allegations fell on deaf ears.
“Those corrupt police officers framed him and no one would listen to him, but with all the cases in the news now, we’re seeing all the corruption and lies by this police department. We know what a lot of these officers were and still are,” said Anderson, one of Baker’s two siblings.
It was in 2011 that Watts — who had testified against Baker at his trial— was caught in an FBI sting, along with one member of his team, attempting to steal from an FBI informant $5,200 of what they believed was drug money. Watts and the other officer, Kallatt Mohammed, were indicted in Febru- ary 2012 and convicted on theft of government funds. Mohmamed was sentenced to 18 months in prison; Watts to 22 months.
“Days like this, absolutely they feel great when you get a victory. But they’re always tainted with ‘Why didn’t this happen earlier, when this never should have happened in the first place?’ ” said Baker’s lawyer, Joshua Tepfer.
Tepfer last month filed a petition for a new trial, filing a slew of court and law enforcement records showing that at the time of Baker’s trial, Watts and his team of tactical officers — many still on the force to this day — had long faced corruption allegations and were under investigation by the FBI and CPD internal affairs.
In response to Tepfer’s petition, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office on Thursday vacated Baker’s conviction.
The case brings to 14 the number of defendants who have had their convictions vacated since creation of the Conviction Integrity Unit in 2012, said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez.