Adolfo Frias
Adolfo Frias walked free in January after being imprisoned for 33 years as an innocent man.
It was a full circle moment for Senior Staff Attorney Leanne Beyer. She first met Adolfo in 2013 as a law student intern working on his case. Twelve years later she welcomed him to freedom – now as his attorney.
“Helping free Adolfo will always be one of the greatest stories of my professional life,” she says. “When I was an intern, I fell in love with this work. One reason is because of people like Adolfo. To help someone like him is the most rewarding job I could have.”
Targeted by Det. Reynaldo Guevara
In 1993, Adolfo was 27 and happily married. He was a bakery delivery driver and sometimes worked a second job to enable his wife to stay home with their young sons. When a family member was violently murdered, Adolfo fell victim to the notorious Chicago Detective Reynaldo Guevara.
Guevara entered Adolfo’s home without a warrant, dragged him away from his family and interrogated and beat him for 30 hours, withheld food and sleep, and threatened to arrest his wife and take away his children. Desperate to protect his family, Adolfo signed a “confession” written in English even though he could read only Spanish.
“It was always clear that Adolfo was innocent,” Leanne says. “He is the kindest, gentlest man I have ever met. He was beloved by his family and even people in prison. They knew he didn’t belong there.”
Adolfo tried to tell the court how Guevara had threatened and beat him into a false confession. But no one believed him. He was sentenced to 85 years.
Life on the outside went on. Though Adolfo and his wife loved each other dearly, he told her to remarry. She and her new husband, with their children and Adolfo’s sons, visited regularly.
“Adolfo’s family never walked away from him but he was very sad in prison. I worried about him a lot,” Leanne says.
Leanne finished her internship at IIP and took a new direction in her career. When she returned as a staff attorney, she asked for Adolfo’s case.
By that time, Guevara’s misconduct had become well known and documented. To date, in fact, over 50 men and women have been exonerated who were convicted based on Guevara’s misconduct. Adolfo had been recognized as a credible witness in another case involving Guevara but he remained wrongfully imprisoned until January 2025, when the State agreed to relief that allowed him to be released.
Transformation in freedom
As Leanne watched Adolfo walk out of prison, she saw a real-time transformation of the heartbroken man she had come to know over the past 12 years.
“Pure joy emanated from him,” she says. “He’s like a completely new human and it started the moment he got out. I thought he might struggle after losing so much of his life to prison. But he’s so happy.
“He smiles all the time. He’s loving the simple things – looking at the stars, listening to live music, dancing and just being embraced by his family once again.”
Adolfo’s legal team also included IIP Legal Director Lauren Kaeseberg and the Exoneration Project as co-counsel. Many other IIP staff and student interns and volunteers worked on his case over the years.
