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7 men seek to overturn wrongful convictions, blame disgraced Chicago police Det. Reynaldo Guevara

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Suzanne Le Mignot
Suzanne Le Mignot
Anchor/Reporter
Suzanne Le Mignot serves as CBS2 Chicago's weekend news morning anchor and weekday reporter.
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Suzanne Le Mignot

/ CBS Chicago

CHICAGO (CBS) – Seven men who said they were wrongfully convicted of crimes due to the alleged misconduct of retired Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara are seeking to have those convictions overturned.

The Exoneration Project will file petitions for all seven men to ask a court to overturn the convictions, so they could get certificates of innocence, which would allow them to move on with their lives.

Jayson Aguiar said he was incarcerated for 10 years and came home in 2000.

"I'm still trying to cope with living a free life," he said. "You know, there's things that I can't do. There's places I can't go. It's a struggle. It's still a struggle every day."

Aguiar was among the seven men who said Guevara changed his life, forever. He was wrongfully convicted of murder in 1990.

His mother, Nelida Torres, said, "Family also does time with him, and that's the hard part."

Edwin Ortiz was convicted of a 1988 murder. He was only 15 years old at the time.

"I'm just asking for a chance to exonerate myself and prove I didn't do this," he said. "I've always maintained my innocence. I've been out since 2010. All doors been closed on me."

Ortiz and Aguiar were among the men wrongfully convicted who were joined by attorneys from the Exoneration Project and the civil rights law firm Loevy and Loevy. The Exoneration Project said the convictions of 44 people have been overturned, and 25 of those people have been issued certificates of innocence. Being granted a certificate means a court has found them innocent.

The attorneys said the convictions of Ortiz, Aguiar and the five other men were a direct result of Guevara's misconduct and corruption.

"For decades, Guevara has targeted and terrorized innocent, largely Black and brown young people, by framing them for crimes that they did not commit," said Fadya Salem, of The Exoneration Project. "He did so by faking anonymous tips, by coercing confessions, by manipulating witnesses and by orchestrating line ups."

The petitions will be filed in court for each man on March 20 with the hope Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx will vacate their convictions.

As for Guevara, he retired from the Chicago Police Department. He's living in Texas and collects a city pension.

Guevara could not be reached for comment.

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