Dozens of convictions at the hand of a corrupt Chicago police officer still have yet to be overturned by State's Attorney Kim Foxx. Attorneys want justice

CHICAGO, IL, UNITED STATES, August 25, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Laurarence Coleman said her life was ruined after a crooked police officer planted drugs on her then arrested her at the Ida B Wells Public Housing decades ago.

“I lost my apartment, had to be separated from my children. I was homeless, on the streets for 15 years," said Coleman.

Coleman is among 88 victims asking State’s Attorney Kim Foxx to toss out convictions which came at the hand of convicted cop Ronald Watts in the early 2000’s.

“I can't get a job because they look at my background and see ‘criminal.’ I'm not a criminal," Coleman said.

Joel Flaxman is among the attorney’s fighting in court to have over 100 convictions dismissed. Flaxman says that number may only scratch the surface at the level of corruption caused by Watts, his crew and a broken criminal justice system.

“It is very hard to believe that police officers were routinely arresting innocent people and routinely falsely putting drug charges on them, but that is the reality,” said Flaxman.

Watts and his team were once described by an Illinois court, as a “criminal posse of corrupt cops”.

“[Watts] ruined lives, took away years by putting innocent people in jail,” said Flaxman. “He destroyed trust between people and their families and the police. To have a police officer whose job is to serve and protect the people living in the projects but instead serving and protecting the drug dealers and locking up innocent people, I think it is impossible to really state how much damage that does.”

Coleman and Flaxman said those falsely charged felt they had no choice but to plead guilty to avoid longer sentences.

“Many of these people will tell you, ‘Well the officers said I had drugs. I told my public defender that it was bogus,’ said Flaxman. “The public defender told me ‘You should plead guilty and you'll get a sentence of probation but if you take this to trial and try to convince a judge or a jury that these officers are crooked you're going to get convicted and you're getting sentence of 10 years 20 years.’”

Watts was eventually convicted but not for falsely arresting people. He went to prison in 2013 for 22 months after he and one of his team members, Kallat Mohammed, were caught stealing money from someone whom “they thought was a drug courier but was working for the FBI”. Watts now resides in Las Vegas. He could not be reached for comment.

Fifteen officers from Watts’ crew were pulled off the streets and given “desk duty” but none were fired. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability has been investigating Watts and his team for years but has yet to release its findings. Flaxman wants the report to be made public and for the remainder of Watts crew to face justice.

“We want to know what the city is doing to hold officers accountable who still work there. They should not still be police officers collecting money from the city of Chicago.” said Flaxman.

Flaxman is also suing the city on behalf of 23 victims. “We also want compensation for the individuals; and the city with its left hand disciplines dirty officers but then with its right hand spends millions fighting against lawsuits against those same officers.”

Flaxman also would like Foxx to wipe the slate clean like she’s done already for dozens of others falsely convicted.

“We would not have to have a fight in court if Kim Foxx would continue what she started.”

Rafer Weigel
Weigel Media Group
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