Man freed after prosecutor dismisses decade-old drug charges

CHICAGO (AP) - A man who spent nearly a decade in prison on a drug conviction has been freed after prosecutors in Chicago vacated the charges against him.

Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez's office on Thursday said the charges against 43-year-old Ben Baker of Chicago were dismissed because the primary witness in the case, former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts, was convicted in 2013 of extorting protection payoffs from drug dealers.

Baker walked out of Robinson Correctional Center late Thursday.

Baker was convicted in 2005 on charges of possession of narcotics with intent to deliver.

It was in 2011 that Watts and his partner, Kallatt Mohammed, were caught in an FBI sting attempting to steal from an FBI informant $5,200 of what they believed was drug money. Mohammed was convicted of theft and sentenced to 18 months in prison.