After 20 Years in Prison, Chicago Heights Man Allegedly Framed for Murder Awarded $15M

A Chicago Heights man who spent 20 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit will see a $15 million settlement from the city that sent him there.

A federal judge on Wednesday approved the figure for Rodell Sanders, a former gang member police allegedly framed for a 1993 murder in Chicago Heights. It is believed to be the largest individual payout for a wrongful conviction in state history, Chicago Tribune reports.

The settlement was reached "to protect the interests of taxpayers and to forge community unity in our diverse city," Mayor David Gonzalez said in an email statement to the Tribune. He also clarified the agreement does not acknowledge any wrongdoing by the city or police."

Sanders, now 51, was freed two years ago after he was acquitted in a second retrial. He had previously been convicted in the 1993 murder of Phillip Atkins. Atkins and Stacy Armstrong were asleep in a car when a group of four men forced them out of it at gunpoint. One of them them ordered Atkins killed due to his affiliation with street gang Mickey Cobras. Armstrong—who was shot multiple times but survived—identified Sanders as the one to issue the order.

But Sanders' attorney Russell Ainsworth said Chicago Heights police cropped the photo to fit Armstrong's description of the man as "thin," the Tribune reports. They also allegedly used the investigation as a "shortcut" in their fight against the Gangster Disciplines street gang, of which Sanders was an assistant governor.

The case was "the embodiment of a shoddy police investigation," Ainsworth said after Sanders was acquitted in 2014. An earlier retrial (in 2013) led to a hung jury of 11 seeking to convict, one seeking to acquit.

Before his original trial, prosecutors offered him a plea deal that would have gotten him 23 years in prison. He refused, and was sentenced to 80 years instead. His conviction happened amidst probing into Chicago Heights police and politics, which ultimately led to federal charges regarding civil rights violations, witness tampering, bribery, extortion, and racketeering.

The money will pay out $2 million over four years and the remainder through insurance policies held by the city.

—more via the Chicago Tribune