A Cook County judge has thrown out the felony drug convictions of 15 men in what was described as the largest mass exoneration in Chicago history.
The men all say they were set up by Chicago police officer Ronald Watts after they refused to pay him. They told reporters that Watts had drugs placed on them and had them arrested when they would not hand over money.
One of the men, Leonard, who had two convictions tossed, said Watts warned him that if he did not pay, Watts would get him. He said he served 24 months in prison and was arrested again after coming home.
According to TIME, sentences for the men ranged from probation to nearly a decade in prison. Some of them said they pleaded guilty only to avoid the longer sentence that the drug charges could have brought.
Reports note that complaints had been made about Watts for years. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to stealing money from an FBI informant and received a sentence of 22 months, which was shorter than the terms some of the men served.
Before the hearing, 13 of the 15 men had already been released. The other two remained behind bars on unrelated charges.
Joshua Tepfer, an attorney with the University of Chicago Exoneration Project, said the group is reviewing up to two dozen more cases, and that as many as 500 cases may need a second look.
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The men are expected to consider legal action against the city and the police department. Chicago has paid out more than half a billion dollars over the past decade to settle police misconduct cases.
