City approves $50M settlement to ‘Marquette Park Four,’ men wrongfully convicted in 1995 double murder

CHICAGO — The city council approved Wednesday a $50 million settlement to four Chicago men wrongfully imprisoned for a total of 73 years.

LaShawn Ezell, Charles Johnson, Larod Styles and Troshawn McCoy, known as the “Marquette Park Four,” were exonerated in 2017 after spending decades in prison for a 1995 double murder.

The settlement, which resolves four separate federal civil rights lawsuits, alleges that Chicago police used brutal interrogation to force the then-teens into signing false confessions.

The four men were charged in the murders of Khalid Ibrahim and Yousef Ali, owners of a used car dealership. No physical or forensic evidence ever tied them to the crime.

After the settlement approval, the men made the following joint statement, saying in part, “We are grateful that the City of Chicago has chosen to resolve our case and allow us to move on with our lives. No amount of money can ever return the years we lost due to Chicago Police misconduct that caused our collective 73 years of wrongful imprisonment. The City of Chicago must take steps to protect our teenagers from police abuses like those we endured.”

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