New York City’s $41 million settlement with the Central Park Five was officially approved by a federal judge Friday.
The settlement marks the end of a long legal battle the five men, all of whom are Black or Latino, have endured after being wrongfully-convicted for the beating and rape of Trisha Melli in 1989.
The New York Daily News reports that Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam and Kevin Richardson will each receive more than $7 million for the nearly six years they each spent in prison. Korey Wise will receive more than $12 million for the nearly 13 years he served.
“It’s a long time coming and we’re grateful that this chapter in our lives can finally be put to rest, and we can concentrate on other things,” Santana told The Huffington Post on Friday, adding that he and some of the other men will use a portion of their settlement to make sure other young men of color don’t have to experience what they went through.