The five men — Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam and Kharey Wise — who were wrongfully convicted 24 years ago in the Central Park jogger rape case that shook New York City into a racial divide have reached a $40 million settlement with the city.
The men, who were convicted as teens in 1990, each served nearly seven years in prison, with the exception of Wise, who served nearly 13 years, for the alleged brutal beating and rape of, then, 28-year-old Trisha Meili. “The Central Park Five,” as they were dubbed, were exonerated in 2002 after after career criminal Matias Reyes confessed to the heinous crime and DNA evidence backed up his claim. The boys always claimed that they were innocent and that the New York police department strong armed them into making incriminating statements against themselves and each other. A year later, the men, who had already served their sentences, filed civil lawsuits against the City of New York and the police offices and prosecutors who worked on their convictions
So after decades of fighting the legal system to get free from a crime that they didn’t commit, $40 million is it? The sum seems awfully low to split among five men who lost 24 years of their lives doing time for a crime they were all violently coerced into admitting they committed. These boys were made into symbols of lawlessness in New York City. In 1989, reports claimed that these “wild” youths acted like a wolf pack, preying on poor women like Meili.