Chicago Council Panel Approves $13.75 Million in Settlements Over Ex-Detective Guevara's Coerced Confessions

Chicago's City Council Finance Committee voted Monday to recommend $13.75 million in settlements for two men who spent decades in prison after confessions that city attorneys say were coerced by former Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara.

The committee approved a $6 million settlement for Arturo DeLeon-Reyes and a $7.75 million settlement for Gabriel Solache. Both cases trace back to a 1989 murder and kidnapping investigation in which Guevara served as the lead detective. The recommendation now moves to the full City Council for a final vote next week.

Jessica Felker, Chicago's deputy corporation counsel, told alderpersons during the meeting that both men testified they were innocent and that Guevara coerced their statements. She said the city faced a choice between settling or taking the cases to trial, where Guevara would likely refuse to answer questions.

"If this case does not settle it will go immediately to trial and Guevara will assert his 5th amendment privilege and decline to testify," Felker said.

Guevara has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in prior civil cases when asked directly about allegations that he beat suspects, fabricated evidence and coached witnesses to identify people who had nothing to do with the crimes under investigation. City attorneys told the committee that history shaped their recommendation to settle rather than risk a trial verdict that could cost the city far more.

The committee's discussion did not focus on whether DeLeon-Reyes and Solache committed the underlying crime. Instead, alderpersons and city lawyers weighed whether the men could prove Guevara's misconduct at trial and what a loss would mean for the city's finances. Chicago officials disclosed earlier this month that they expect roughly $400 million in police misconduct payouts next year alone.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, who represents the 25th Ward, backed the settlements.

"We look at ways we find accountability and the harm is already done but we need to have that conversation holistically to repair the harm and move forward but it's the responsible thing to do for the city," Sigcho-Lopez said.

Ald. Ray Lopez of the 15th Ward cast the only vote against the settlements. He pointed to a deposition given by former Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, in which Lopez said Foxx indicated she believed the men were guilty despite each having been granted a certificate of innocence.

"If they were never believed to be innocent and that's quite a real possibility when giving them the certificate of innocence, what's the rush, what's the hurry, why can't we get to the facts of the matter fully," Lopez said.

Guevara worked as a Chicago police detective for years before his conduct came under scrutiny in a string of wrongful conviction cases, most involving Latino men convicted of murders on the city's Northwest Side in the late 1980s and 1990s. City attorneys told the Finance Committee that dozens of additional Guevara-related cases remain pending against the city.

The full City Council is scheduled to vote on the $13.75 million package next week. If approved, the payments to DeLeon-Reyes and Solache would add to the settlements the city has already paid out over convictions Guevara helped secure.