Chicago taxpayers will spend $9 million to compensate a Spanish-speaking man who spent 17 years in prison after he was beaten and coerced as a teen into signing a confession for a murder he did not commit.
The latest in a seemingly never-ending string of wrongful conviction settlements tied to misconduct by Chicago Police officers — $131.5 million during the first six months alone, according to a WTTW analysis — goes to Alberto Ochoa.
Ochoa was a 17-year-old day laborer who had arrived in Chicago from Mexico less than a year when he was arrested and charged with the murder of Marilu Sochu after being falsely identified by a known member of the Latin Kings street gang.
Chicago police officers, led by Jose “Pepe” Lopez, were accused of coercing one of several members of the Latin Kings arrested for a robbery that same night into identifying Ochoa as the killer of the girlfriend of a rival gang member. The gang members were “falsely” promised their immediate release if they identified the shooter.
Ochoa knew and worked with one of the Latin King members, who had come to Ochoa’s Little Village apartment the night of the murder to collect borrowed money.
But he was not a gang member and played no role in either the robbery or the murder of the young woman. Ochoa spent the night of the murder watching movies and drinking beer at home.
Attorney Jennifer Bonjean, who represented Ochoa, said the police misconduct that culminated in her client’s wrongful conviction follows a troubling and familiar pattern.
After being falsely implicated by that Latin King member and arrested by police, Bonjean said Ochoa was brutally abused and tricked into signing his name on a “fabricated” confession written only in English.
“He choked him and stuck his thumb deeply inside his sternal notch. It’s that little divot in your throat where the esophagus is. For months, he had to get medical treatment at Cermak [Hospital]. He was punched. He was struck. And he was hit in the genitals,” Bonjean said.
Before signing the ”fabricated” confession written in English, Bonjean said Ochoa asked to make a video-recorded statement instead. The request was denied, even though video recording equipment was available, she said.
“My client ended up signing — or really printing — his name on a handwritten statement that he could not read and did not write … implicating himself in this crime. There were statements in there that were completely fabricated, but he was none the wiser because he couldn’t read it,” Bonjean said Thursday.
“It is absolutely outrageous that you would have the lead detective on a case serving as both interpreter and lead detective with a non-English speaker. We can’t live in a world where people are signing … statements they can’t read. That was an outrageous act of misconduct,” she said.
“Lopez, this Spanish-speaking detective who was the only person he was communicating with, said, ‘We just need you to make a statement, then you can go home.’ The detective wrote out the statement in English, even though a video recording was available, and my client asked for his statement to be video-recorded. It was denied. So, he essentially signed a statement that implicated himself that he couldn’t read. And there were aspects of it that Detective Lopez had fabricated.”
Ochoa, who is now working as a truck driver, was released from prison in October 2019. He was granted a certificate of innocence in November 2023.
The City Council’s Finance Committee will be asked to approve the $9 million settlement during Monday’s meeting.
Also on the agenda is the proposal by New York investment firm Stonepeak Partners to acquire Chicago parking meters for $2.53 billion — $800 million more than the bid submitted, then abandoned by Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th) chair of the Hispanic Caucus, said he “couldn’t in good conscience” support the acquisition because of the controversy created by Stonepeak’s 2025 acquisition of Omni Air International, which has provided “long haul” deportation flights for the Department of Homeland Security.
Vasquez was not satisfied by Stonepeak’s pledge to consider selling Omni.
“Considering is one thing. Actually doing it is another,” Vasquez said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson has denied playing hide the ball with a City Council that must decide whether to approve the sale by July 24.
Finance Committee Chair Pat Dowell (3rd) doesn’t buy it.
“We have not received all of the information that we requested from the administration. They claim that they have a non-disclosure confidentiality requirement. That’s not true,” she said.
Dowell said she intends to call for a vote Monday, and “anything can happen” between now and then.
