Convictions vacated in Guevara-related murder case

Two Chicago men who've spent 23 years behind bars for a 1993 murder in Humboldt Park were expected to be released from prison Wednesday, hours after a Cook County judge vacated their convictions.

Cook County Chief Criminal Judge LeRoy Martin issued the ruling Wednesday morning and prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Jose Montanez, 49, and Armando Serrano, 44, according to Russell Ainsworth, an attorney with The Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago who represents Montanez.

Both men were convicted in the shooting death of Rodrigo Vargas and sentenced to 55 years in prison. But the case against them fell apart when defense attorneys began to hammer the only witness who tied the men to the murder.

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