Chicago aldermen advance $261 million settlement for 17 wrongful murder convictions tied to disgraced CPD Det. Reynaldo Guevara

The city of Chicago appears ready to pay out an eye-popping $260.8 million to 17 men framed for murder by notorious former Detective Reynaldo Guevara, after a unanimous vote by the City Council Finance Committee on Monday.

The massive payout is only part of the growing costs related to Guevara, who has been linked to dozens of wrongful convictions. The full City Council is expected to give the settlement final approval next week.

The payment will resolve 16 lawsuits filed by 17 men who spent a combined 384 years in prison before they were exonerated. The settlement means they will get an average of $680,000 for every year wrongfully served behind bars.

City attorneys said all but two of the men have received certificates of innocence. Of the two who have not, one has applied for one, but a judge has yet to rule on the request, and the other has not yet sought a certificate of innocence.

Their attorneys are likely to make more than $100 million under the settlement, while Guevara is still drawing a taxpayer-funded city pension.

"This is no less disheartening for all of Chicago to see the largest settlement in U.S. history coming before us right now," said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th). "Swallowing this is like bad medicine today, because I know that there are still outstanding questions."

Beyond the 17 men whose cases are being settled under the deal, Deputy Corporation Counsel Jessica Felker told aldermen there are still two more Guevara-related lawsuits in settlement talks, with 23 other Guevara lawsuits still pending which will likely end up being settled.

Nine other men are challenging convictions in cases Guevara handled, but have yet to sue the city.

Those cases likely will cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars more.

However, city attorneys told aldermen if Guevara's victims each pursued their own lawsuits and took the cases to trial, unpredictable juries could expose taxpayers to even higher costs.

"The Law Department finds this in the best financial interests of the city. In these cases, the city's potential liability is more than a half a billion dollars," Felker said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's office has said settling all of the cases together would save taxpayers between $300 million and $400 million compared to the risk of taking the cases to trial. When combined with a $90 million global settlement for nearly 200 police misconduct lawsuits tied to former CPD Sgt. Ronald Watts, who also has been accused of routinely framing suspects, the mayor's office said the city will have settled 72% of the open wrongful conviction cases against it this year.

Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) vented frustration that, despite being tied to dozens of wrongful convictions, Guevara is still being paid a city pension.

City attorneys said he retired in 2005 after nearly 30 years on the force. Felker said the city can only strip former employees of their pension if they are convicted of a felony tied to their job.

Guevara has never been charged with a crime in connection with allegedly torturing supsects, and the statute of limitations has long since expired on any such charges, Felker said.

The CBS News Chicago investigators for years dug into the accusations of Guevara coercing false confessions as far back as the 1980s.

Guevara is accused of coercing false confessions and withholding evidence against dozens of murder suspects.

He's been accused of falsifying police reports, framing suspects, and beating suspects into false confessions. Guevara has never been charged with a crime and still receives a city pension. He has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself and refuse to answer questions on the torture allegations against him.

In one lawsuit involving Guevara, he asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to 200 questions. 

As for the $260.8 million settlement approved by the Finance Committee, if approved by the full council, the payouts will be made in four installments in 2027 and 2028.

"Their attorneys will take probably 40% of that," Felker said. "So, 40% will go to the firm Loevy & Loevy."

The murder cases involved in the mass settlement spanned from 1987 to 1999, when Guevara was considered a master detective closing cases that in the end were based on lies and coercion.

Talks on the mass settlement involving Loevy & Loevy clients began 10 months ago. A federal judge served as mediator to knock down these huge clouds hanging over the city's bleak budget.

Mayor Brandon Johnson has urged alders to pass the settlement, allowing the city to move on from these cases.