$17 million settlement recommended for man framed by disgraced CPD detective Reynaldo Guevara
A man who spent 23 years in prison after he was framed by a disgraced former Chicago police detective for a 1994 double murder could soon get a $17 million settlement recommended by the city's attorneys.
Roberto Almodovar was released from prison in 2017, when then-Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx dropped all charges against him and co-defendant William Negron in the murders of Amy Merkes and Jorge Rodriguez and the attempted murders of Kennelly Saez and Jacqueline Grande.
On Monday, the City Council Finance Committee will vote on a $17 million settlement recommended by the city's Law Department. If approved, the full City Council could vote on the settlement on Wednesday.
Almodovar and Negron accused former detective Reynaldo Guevara of falsely identifying them as the shooters, and pressuring Grande and Saez to pick them out of a lineup. Grande and Saez said Guevara showed them photos of Almodovar and Negron before the lineup, and claimed they were the gunmen.
According to Almodovar's lawsuit, no physical evidence linked him to the crime, and police knowingly ignored his alibi that he was at work and school at the time of the shooting, which was verified by at least seven witnesses.
An appeals court threw out Almodovar's and Negron's convictions in 2013, and ordered new hearings in the case before the charges were dropped in 2017.
Negron's lawsuit against the city is still pending.
At least 51 people have had convictions linked to Guevara overturned.
While Guevara has never been charged with a crime, the CBS News Chicago investigators for years dug into the accusations of Guevara coercing false confessions as far back as the 1980s.
In January, the City Council approved a $17.5 million settlement for Thomas Sierra, who spent more than 22 years in prison for a 1995 murder before he was exonerated in 2018.
Sierra, who had been jailed since he was 19, had accused Guevara of manipulating witnesses into identifying him as the person who killed Noel Andujar.
Dozens more lawsuits accusing Guevara of framing suspects are still pending in federal court.
