Politics
City Council to Weigh Paying $1.2M to Resolve Another Lawsuit Tied to Convicted Ex-Sgt. Ronald Watts
Leonard Gipson, right, addresses the news media at the at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Nov. 16, 2017, after being exonerated. (Matt Masterson/WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $1.2 million to a man who claims in a lawsuit that he was framed three times by convicted former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team, city lawyers recommended.
Leonard Gipson spent two years in jail and pleaded guilty in three cases that he alleges were based on evidence gathered by Watts, who was convicted in 2013 of taking bribes, and other officers.
Gipson was one of 15 men convicted in cases tied to Watts to be exonerated by a judge in 2017 as part of the only mass exoneration in Cook County history.
The Chicago City Council’s Finance Committee on Monday is set to consider the proposed settlement, which would be the third lawsuit to allege misconduct by Watts and his team to be resolved. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday.
After he was exonerated, Gipson told reporters he felt like he had been born again.
“I just feel like right now, it’s a brand-new beginning for me,” Gipson said. “I can start over and do what I want to do … It’s a new life for me.”
Watts is named in more than 70 lawsuits alleging he framed people for crimes they did not commit — with a total of 193 lawsuits yet to be resolved, according to documents obtained by WTTW News. Like many of the Chicagoans arrested by Watts and his team of officers, Gipson lived in the now-demolished Ida B. Wells Chicago Housing Authority complex on the South Side.
In September 2024, the City Council agreed to pay $500,000 to Alvin Waddy, who was arrested by officers who reported to Watts, to resolve the lawsuit he filed against the city in Cook County Circuit Court.
In January, the City Council agreed to pay $7.5 million to Ben Baker, who spent a decade in prison after being framed by Watts, a judge determined.
Between 2016 and September 2024, Chicago taxpayers paid more than $11.2 million to defend Watts.
Watts and the officers who reported to him were accused of demanding that residents and drug dealers pay them for protection. They arrested those who refused after planting drugs on them, according to court records.
In 2013, Watts was convicted of shaking down a drug courier who turned out to be an FBI informant. Watts spent nearly two years in prison.
Since 2017, 212 convictions tied to Watts have been overturned, according to Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Note: This story was updated on May 28 to clarify language.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
