CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – One hundred and forty-three criminal cases largely against public housing residents from 20 years ago and all tied to corrupt former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts have now been vacated in Cook County, with dozens more being contested.
State’s Attorney Kim Foxx emerged from a courtroom following the latest exonerations saying it is a somber day.
“Make no mistake, this is a sorrowful, sorrowful moment knowing that these individuals will never get that time back,” Foxx said.
More than 200 years served, said attorneys Joshua Tepfer and Sean Starr.
“These aren’t blank names on a piece of paper. These are real human beings,” Tepfer said.
Tepfer said so many of the victims tried to tell anyone who would listen what had happened to them.
“Sgt. Watts and his corrupt crew savaged a community. They decimated brown and black men and women – a whole generation of them. And the city of Chicago let it happen,” Starr said.
While Watts was convicted of corruption and served 22 months in prison, attorney Joel Flaxman, also representing some of his victims, noted others on his crew are still drawing paychecks and the city has been sitting on investigative reports.
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