Cost of Resolving Lawsuits Related to Disgraced Former CPD Detective Reynaldo Guevara Tops $473 Million, With 25 Lawsuits Pending | Chicago News

Policy

Cost of resolving lawsuits linked to disgraced former CPD detective Reynaldo Guevara tops $473 million, with 25 lawsuits pending

(WTTW News)

The Chicago City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to pay $260.8 million to 17 men who spent a total of 383 years in prison after being wrongly convicted based on evidence collected by disgraced former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara.

The total cost of defending and resolving the 57 cases against Guevara, who has been repeatedly accused of falsifying police reports, framing suspects and coercing witnesses, now stands at $472.8 million, according to a WTTW News analysis.

Thirty-two cases against Guevara have been resolved. Twenty-five other lawsuits remain pending in federal court, including one filed by Marilyn Mulero, who spent 29 years in prison after being sentenced to death, records show. Settlements reached by city attorneys in two cases await City Council approval.

Before city lawyers negotiated the mass settlement to resolve 16 lawsuits in one fell swoop, taxpayers had already paid $13.2 million to private attorneys to defend Guevara and other officers who worked alongside him against those claims, according to records obtained by WTTW News.

“Today marks another historic step toward justice for 17 people who have spent a total of 383 years in custody following wrongful convictions,” Mayor Brandon Johnson said after the vote. “And while we can never right the wrong or give them back the years they lost, I am proud of my administration for providing some measure of relief and helping these people move forward. Our work is not done, and my administration remains committed to fighting malpractice responsibly, providing justice for those wronged while protecting Chicago taxpayers from continuing to bear the cost of past misconduct.”

The mass settlement agreement calls for the city to make four equal payments in April and October 2027 and April and October 2028 to resolve cases covered by the mass settlement, officials said.

All cases that needed to be resolved were brought by Loevy & Loevy, a firm specializing in police misconduct litigation.

In total, Chicago taxpayers paid $56.2 million to private attorneys to defend Guevara and other officers named in 57 lawsuits alleging they committed a wide range of misconduct.

A total of $416.5 million in taxpayer money went to those who said they were victims of Guevara and their lawyers, who typically earn 40 percent of any settlement, records show.

Guevara is now one of the most notorious members of the Chicago police force, costing taxpayers more than any other officer, including former Commander Jon Burge, who tortured and beat more than 100 black men between the 1970s and 1990s, city officials have acknowledged.

Guevara, who retired from CPD in 2005 and lives in Texas, receives an annual pension of $91,000, records show.

A judge determined that Guevara told “blatant lies” under oath in 2017, a fact that will be presented to any future jury determining whether the city should be held accountable for allegations of misconduct.

Guevara invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination hundreds of times during court proceedings, refusing to answer questions about whether he falsified police reports, framed suspects or coerced witnesses into identifying criminals.

That means Chicago officials have little hope of winning these cases. Many of the people he helped convict and who took the city to court received certificates of innocence from judges.

Most of those accused of framing Guevara in the 1980s and 1990s are Latino and lived in Humboldt Park, which was home to many working-class Chicagoans long before the Northwest Side neighborhood began to gentrify.

City authorities did not investigate Guevara’s conduct until 2013, eight years after he retired and began collecting his pension. That report, commissioned by former Mayor Rahm Emanuel, cost the city $1.9 million but was never made public by city officials.

Despite Guevara’s well-documented misconduct that sent 55 now-exonerated Chicagoans to prison for decades, any attempt to revoke his pension is doomed to failure, since he was not charged with criminal acts, much less convicted, while he was a Chicago police officer.

Johnson’s budget forecast calls for setting aside $401 million in the 2027 budget to resolve lawsuits, $226 million more than in 2026, records show.

The bulk of the city’s bills seek to resolve lawsuits alleging misconduct by Chicago police officers.

In total, the city faces a budget deficit of $882.5 million in 2027, Johnson said.

Note: Loevy and Loevy have done legal work for WTTW News.

WTTW News’ coverage of policing and police reform is supported by the Joyce Foundation.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | (email protected)