Celebrating his first day of freedom, Ben Baker said Friday he still hadn’t slept since leaving the prison in downstate Robinson Thursday night.
“I sat on my mother’s couch,” he said. “And I’m still confused right now.”
Baker spent nearly eleven years in custody for drug crimes he insisted were untrue, manufactured by a crew of crooked cops at the Ida B. Wells public housing project on Chicago’s south side.
On Thursday, the state basically agreed, asking a judge to dismiss the case which put Baker behind bars in 2005. And roughly eight hours later, he walked out of the prison, four hours south of Chicago.
“Good to be free,” Baker told NBC5 as he strode thru the prison’s open door. “I guess slow justice is better than no justice!”
It was a long time coming. Baker argued at his 2006 trial that Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts and members of his South Side tactical team framed him when he refused to pay a bribe at the Ida B. Wells public housing project. Six years later, it was Watts and a second officer, Khalatt Mohammed, who faced federal charges, for shaking down drug dealers in the very same neighborhood.
“They went to prison eight years after Ben Baker was locked up, and they were out before him,” defense attorney Joshua Tepfer said Friday. “And everyone who has not been charged or pled guilty by the federal government, has remained on the force to this day.”
Investigative reports show that Watts unit previously been the subject of allegations of rampant corruption. Two police officers, Shannon Spalding and Daniel Echeverria, said they worked undercover on the investigation of the Watts team, and believed the corruption went far beyond the two who eventually faced charges.
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“I believe there are people who knew I was telling the truth,” Baker said Friday. “It was evident that I was telling the truth. It’s just, nobody wanted to believe it!”
The 43 year old father of five, said he only learned of his impending freedom a few hours before he was released, from a guard who approached him after a gym class. He said he didn’t believe him.
“I’m serious,” the guard said. “You’ve got to go pack your stuff. You’re going home—somebody’s coming to pick you up!”
Tepfer noted not only that some of the officers who testified against Baker will still on the force—some were promoted. For that reason, Baker said he was watching his back, despite his jubilation at being free.
“I don’t feel safe,” he said. “I’ve been riding around with my cousin all day. I’ve got my head on a swivel. I don’t know what’s coming!”
