CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly 50 more people will have their convictions thrown out as prosecutors in Chicago say they’re working to right the wrongs of a former police sergeant who framed or falsely accused over 100 poor residents of drug crimes.
A judge tossed 19 of the cases Tuesday.
Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said her office will support vacating the convictions of roughly 30 more people this month. That will bring the total of vacated cases involving ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts and his crew to 134 since Foxx took office in December 2016.
Watts, a Black sergeant, led a team that for nearly a decade planted drugs or falsely accused residents of a public housing complex and others of drug crimes unless they paid the officers off.
