Roberto Almodovar and Jose Juan Maysonet both spent more than 20 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
"He just took my life away," Almodovar said. "Took my life from me."
Both men say retired Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara used questionable tactics to put them behind bars.
“It’s, you know, what he did it’s very wrong," Maysonet Jr. said.
Almodovar and Maysonet have both filed federal lawsuits against Guevara, several other officers and the city for their wrongful convictions.
“These men have spent decades in prison and they should be released,” attorney Steve Greenberg said.
Lawyers helping with their cases say Guevara, along with those other officers, framed several people back in the 90s and some still remain behind bars.
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“This was a systemic, a systematic and purposeful effort to frame Hispanic men in the Humbolt Park community in the 1990s," attorney Jennifer Bonjean said. "It was not one rogue officer."
Those lawyers have also called for the Cook County state’s attorney's office to take closer at all of Guevara’s cases.
In a statement the state’s attorney’s office said “we are continuing to handle these matters on a case by case basis. We have been working collaboratively with counsel to hold hearings where appropriate.”
Bouto says Guevara framed him for a murder more than 20 years ago.
"The witnesses in my case that Guevara told them to pick me or he was going to put a murder on them,” he said.
He hopes these lawsuits will lead to a closer look at guevara’s cases.
“What did I do so bad that this had to happen to me?" Bouto asked. "What did these guys do so bad that it had to happen to them or the people that are still in jail?”
