Geraldo Iglesias, is the 10th man since April 2017 to have his conviction overturned after claiming retired Chicago detective Reynaldo Guevara framed him for a 1993 murder, Buzzfeed News reports.
Iglesias spent 18 years in prison before his conviction was officially overturned Wednesday by Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. He was released from prison in 2012, according to CBS 2 Chicago.
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BuzzFeed News published an investigation last April in which more than 50 people accused Guevara of framing them for murders they say they didn’t commit.
“I’ve been waiting for this for the last 27 years and…it’s finally over,” he said after receiving his certificate of innocence, according to CBS.
Before Iglesias was sentenced by a judge, he told the court that he apologized for what happened to the young lady he was accused of murdering and sent his condolences to the family in 1995.
Since his release from prison, Iglesias had been working to clear his name of the murder charge, which affected him while job hunting and searching for housing.
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The State’s Attorney’s Office had fought to keep conviction on the books at first. But a spokesperson revealed that officials lost confidence in the integrity of the case. In the interest of justice, officials decided to not pursue charges, the report said.
Iglesias’s conviction was attached to Francisco Vicente, a jailhouse informant, who reportedly told Guevara and his partner, Ernest Halvorsen, that Iglesias had confessed to the murder while they were awaiting transportation to court.
Vicente has done this multiple times, saying that he allegedly received confessions in other murder cases over the span of six weeks in 1993. Iglesias was the last man whose conviction stood based on his claims.
Buzzfeed News says at least 17 more defendants claim Guevara framed them, and are still behind bars.
