CHICAGO – The City of Chicago has agreed to pay $90 million to settle dozens of wrongful conviction lawsuits tied to former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his tactical team.
What we know:
The settlement, which still requires approval from the City Council, would resolve 176 lawsuits involving nearly 200 people who collectively spent more than 200 years in prison.
Each case stems from false arrests, fabricated evidence and other misconduct by Watts and his unit, city lawyers said.
The lawsuits represent one of the largest police misconduct scandals in Chicago’s history.
Watts and Officer Kallatt Mohammed were indicted in 2012 and later served federal prison sentences. But the fallout has continued for more than a decade as convictions were overturned and many plaintiffs received certificates of innocence.
According to the city’s law department, the agreement would settle about 64% of Chicago’s active wrongful conviction lawsuits.
“The lowest payout is $150,000 and the highest, I believe, is $3.4 million, just over that figure. It might be $3.9… And that’s for an individual who spent nearly 10 years in custody. So as I’m sure many of you who cover these types of cases understand, a lot of these settlements are driven by time and custody per year, recent incarceration, et cetera, and that’s largely a formula. But a lot in terms of identifying which plaintiff is getting which amount of money is based heavily on discussions and information from the plaintiff’s counsel,” said Victoria Benson, part of the deputy corporation counsel.
What’s next:
The city has already paid $36 million in previous settlements related to the Watts scandal.
Officials warn that if the remaining cases go to trial, taxpayers could face up to $500 million in liability over the coming years.
The Source: The information was reported by FOX 32 News.