Exoneration of the day - Man Framed with Cocaine by Police Officer

A man in Schaumburg, Illinois was arrested for possession of cocaine by two police officers who claimed the arrested man confessed he had the cocaine in his garage. The man claimed the police officer’s statement that he showed the officers the cocaine in his garage was false and that the police officers must have planted the evidence there to arrest him. The officer testified the defendant did show him where it was. The defendant fearing he would be placed in prison for a long period of time pled guilty to reduce the charges.

Several years later the two officers along with a third officer were indicted on corruption charges for moving drugs onto the street they stole from drug dealers. The investigation all began when 9 ounces of cocaine were found in a shed and an informant informed the authorities he was selling this cocaine for the police officers who had supplied him with it. All three police officers resigned from their jobs and two of them received lengthy prison sentences of 24-26 year each after pleading guilty (the third was still awaiting trial).

The man originally charged with the cocaine filed a motion seeking to vacate his conviction based on the charges against the two police officers and the country circuit court judge vacated his conviction. The State’s Attorney’s Office dismissed the case and the defendant was released from prison. He then filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the officers and the city and the case settled in his favor for $90,000.

To read more about this case visit:

https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Pages/casedetail.aspx?caseid=4187