The proposed agreement would resolve 16 lawsuits involving 17 men exonerated after convictions in cases tied to former Detective Reynaldo Guevara.
CHICAGO, IL — Chicago officials are considering a $260.8 million settlement to resolve 16 wrongful conviction lawsuits involving 17 men whose cases were tied to former police Detective Reynaldo Guevara, a deal that could become the largest single police misconduct settlement in U.S. history if it receives final approval.
The proposed agreement comes after years of litigation over Guevara’s work as a Chicago police detective during the 1980s and 1990s. The plaintiffs were convicted of murder or other serious crimes and later exonerated after spending decades behind bars. WTTW News reported the 17 men covered by the proposal spent more than 383 years in prison combined. The settlement still requires approval through the Chicago City Council process, with the council’s Finance Committee scheduled to consider it Monday and a final council vote potentially following later in October.
Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has argued that resolving the cases together would reduce the city’s financial exposure from continued litigation. City officials estimate that taking the cases through additional trials could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in legal expenses and potential verdicts. Officials have said the settlement payments would be made through the city’s 2027 and 2028 budgets. The administration is already confronting significant costs from lawsuits involving alleged police misconduct, including cases that date back decades.
Guevara has been accused in lawsuits and court proceedings of coercing witnesses, falsifying police reports and framing suspects. He has not been criminally charged over those allegations. During court proceedings, Guevara has repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned about alleged misconduct. Courts have overturned convictions connected to his investigations, and dozens of people convicted in cases he handled have been exonerated. Many have received certificates of innocence and later sued the city and other defendants.
The proposed $260.8 million package would resolve claims from 17 plaintiffs represented in 16 lawsuits. City attorneys had not publicly provided a breakdown showing how much each plaintiff would receive as of the announcement. CBS News Chicago reported that each of the men covered by the proposed settlement spent between 18 and 30 years in prison before being exonerated. The cases are among dozens of lawsuits that have placed Guevara’s conduct and the city’s handling of the resulting litigation under sustained scrutiny.
The settlement would mark another major increase in the public cost associated with Guevara-related cases. WTTW News reported that Chicago taxpayers had already spent at least $206 million defending and settling 16 lawsuits naming Guevara before the new package was proposed. Other cases remain unresolved. The financial impact has led alderpersons to push the city’s lawyers to negotiate broader agreements rather than continue resolving the litigation one lawsuit at a time.
The scale of the new proposal is unusual even among major police misconduct settlements. A $45 million agreement reached by New Haven, Connecticut, with Richard “Randy” Cox in 2023 was described at the time as the largest police misconduct settlement in U.S. history. Cox was left paralyzed after being injured while in police custody. Chicago also approved a $50 million settlement in 2024 involving four men who were wrongfully convicted after alleging that police coerced false confessions and withheld evidence. The proposed Guevara package, at more than five times that Chicago settlement, would substantially exceed those previously reported figures if treated as a single settlement.
The Guevara cases have become part of a broader financial challenge for Chicago. The city’s Office of Inspector General reported that Chicago paid more than $465 million from 2019 through 2024 in settlements and judgments involving the Police Department and its members. Johnson’s 2027 budget forecast anticipates setting aside $401 million to resolve lawsuits, according to WTTW News, as the city also faces a projected budget gap. Those pressures have increased the stakes surrounding decisions to settle misconduct cases or risk potentially larger jury verdicts.
The proposed agreement would not end all litigation connected to Guevara. WTTW reported that 41 cases naming him remained pending when the settlement was announced, including the cases covered by the new proposal, while other reporting indicated that roughly two dozen additional cases could remain after the package is resolved. The differing figures reflect the changing status and counting of lawsuits as individual cases are settled. What is clear is that additional Guevara-related litigation would remain even after approval of the $260.8 million package.
The settlement is not yet final. The City Council’s Finance Committee is scheduled to consider the proposal Monday, Oct. 5. If it advances, a final City Council vote could come Oct. 14. Until those approvals occur, the $260.8 million remains a proposed settlement rather than an authorized payout.
Author note: Last updated October 4, 2026.