The $260.8 million Guevara settlement, and the October 14 council vote
Chicago's $260.8 million Guevara settlement covers 17 men. Here is the payment plan, the budget impact, and the October 14 Council vote.
When a major City Hall settlement lands, the amount and the vote date are the first details you need. Chicago has agreed to pay $260,814,000 to settle 16 federal lawsuits tied to former Detective Reynaldo Guevara, and the full City Council is scheduled to vote on the deal October 14.
The Finance Committee approved the agreement unanimously on October 5. If the Council approves it, payments will be made in four equal installments across 2027 and 2028.
The short answer
The proposed $260,814,000 settlement would resolve 16 federal lawsuits filed by 17 men whose murder convictions tied to Guevara were thrown out. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration announced the deal October 1, and the Council’s Finance Committee approved it unanimously four days later.
The full City Council meets Wednesday, October 14, at 10 a.m. The settlement is announced by the mayor’s office, and reporters expect the Council to take its final vote at that meeting.
If the deal passes, the city will pay four equal installments of about $65 million each, in April and October of 2027 and 2028. The city says it will pay the settlement without borrowing.
For you, the key date is October 14: committee approval is complete, while the full Council’s vote will determine whether the agreement moves ahead.
Who's covered
The settlement covers 17 men who spent a combined 383.55 years in custody in cases connected to Guevara. Their cases date from 1987 to 1999, and they were between 14 and 28 years old when arrested.
All 17 convictions were vacated. Fifteen men received certificates of innocence, one application is pending, and one man has not applied. Those distinctions describe the status of their innocence certificates; the settlement itself covers all 17 plaintiffs.
Loevy & Loevy represents every plaintiff in the 16 lawsuits. The firm’s fee is 40% of the settlement, or about $104 million, leaving the remainder for the plaintiffs under the agreement.
The combined custody figure conveys the scale of the harm across the group, while the certificate count shows that the legal process has not reached the same stage for every man.
Who Guevara is
Guevara retired from the Chicago Police Department in 2005 and has never been charged with a crime. He has repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment, and a judge described his 2017 testimony as “bald-faced lies.”
Guevara is 80, lives in Texas, and continues to receive a city pension of about $91,000 a year. Illinois law allows a pension to be taken only after a job-related felony conviction.
That legal requirement sets a clear limit on what the settlement changes for taxpayers: the agreement resolves the plaintiffs’ lawsuits, while Guevara’s pension remains governed by the state-law condition for forfeiture.
How a "global" deal came about
The city used its $90 million package settlement for lawsuits tied to Sgt. Ronald Watts as a model for a single Guevara agreement. Aldermen pushed for that approach, and a federal judge mediated negotiations that began about 10 months ago.
Acting Corporation Counsel Renee Hatcher announced the deal alongside Mayor Johnson. A single package became possible because Loevy & Loevy brought all 16 lawsuits and represents every plaintiff.
The global arrangement brings those cases into one settlement, giving the city a set payment schedule and resolving the claims together if the Council approves. The Council’s October 14 vote is the next decision point.
What Guevara cases have already cost, and what's left
Earlier Guevara-case payouts and legal costs put the city’s exposure well beyond the new settlement. In September, the city agreed to pay $13.75 million to settle claims by Arturo DeLeon-Reyes and Gabriel Solache.
WTTW’s running total for settlements and outside lawyers reached $191.8 million as of September. A WBEZ count of payments by the city, Cook County, and Illinois was nearly $185 million; adding the proposed agreement brings that combined figure to about $446 million.
Two more settlements have already been reached, and 23 additional lawsuits remain pending. Those figures track different categories of costs, so the WTTW total and the broader city-county-state count should be read as separate tallies.
For you, the pending cases mean the October agreement addresses a major group of claims, while further payouts remain possible as other cases proceed.
The budget context
The settlement arrives as Chicago faces an $882 million budget gap. The 2027 forecast sets aside $401 million for lawsuits, an increase of $226 million from the amount set aside for 2026.
The city’s case for approving the package is that one agreement saves $300 million to $400 million compared with taking the lawsuits to trial. That projected savings is the administration’s estimate; the proposed payments still require the full Council’s approval.
Asked how the city would pay, the Finance Committee chair said, “That’s not my question.” The remark captures the political pressure surrounding a settlement that reduces trial risk while adding a large, scheduled expense to a strained budget.
Reactions, and what to watch October 14
Mayor Johnson presented the agreement as a way to resolve the claims together, while Ald. Conway supported pursuing a global settlement. Ald. Lopez, the only no vote on the September Guevara settlements in committee, described the earlier payout as the “largest settlement in U.S. history.” That is Lopez’s characterization.
Ald. Taylor focused on Guevara’s pension, saying it remains in place because he has not been convicted of a job-related felony. Loevy & Loevy declined to comment when the deal was announced.
Watch for the full Council’s roll call at its October 14 meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. The result will determine whether the four-installment payment plan proceeds, while two settlements already reached and 23 pending suits leave more Guevara-related cases to follow.
Sources (1)
Photo: Chicago City Hall by Photography by Brian Lauer, BY 2.0.