Chicago approves $90M payout over disgraced ex-sergeant who framed hundreds for drug crimes

The Chicago City Council has unanimously approved a $90 million settlement to resolve nearly 200 civil rights claimslinked to a corrupt former police sergeant who allegedly framed people for drug crimes they never committed. 

The agreement settles 176 lawsuits brought by 180 wrongfully convicted individuals—together, they spent nearly 200 years behind bars before their cases were overturned. 

At the heart of the scandal is Ronald Watts, a former Chicago police sergeant who led a unit accused of planting drugs, falsifying reports, and coercing residents of public housing and others into criminal charges unless they paid bribes. 

Watts stepped down from the force and later pled guilty to stealing from an undercover informant in 2012. In 2021 he was sentenced to nearly two years in prison. 

In response to the settlement, lawyers representing the plaintiffs described the deal as a long‑overdue measure of justice, especially for those targeted in the Ida B. Wells housing complex, a community heavily impacted by the misconduct. 

Watts’s attorney, Ahmed Kosoko, maintained that Watts had no direct role in most of the arrests, and claimed that his involvement—where present—was limited to administrative tasks well removed from decisions to arrest or prosecute. He said that in many cases Watts was not even on duty. 

City officials emphasized that legal costs had already mounted and continuing to litigate these cases individually could have cost Chicago hundreds of millions more. The global settlement is viewed as a way to cap risk and provide closure.

However, the timing of the payout adds pressure to the city’s finances: Chicago is already facing a projected budget shortfall of over $1 billion for 2026. 

Some aldermen hailed the agreement as a landmark moment. Ald. Nicholas Sposato called it “the deal of a century,” and others expressed relief that the settlement prevented further escalation in legal costs. 

With this vote, the city hopes to close one of its most notorious police misconduct chapters, even as it faces deep skepticism from residents about trust in law enforcement.

Source: AP NEWS