Man who spent 20 years in prison gets $15 million settlement

CHICAGO (AP) — A former suburban Chicago gang member who spent 20 years in prison after being convicted of murder on evidence he alleged was fabricated by police has received a $15 million settlement in a civil rights lawsuit against the city of Chicago Heights.

Rodell Sanders, who was freed in 2014, long contended Chicago Heights police knew he wasn't involved in the December 1993 shooting of Philip Atkins and Stacy Armstrong. Sanders, 51, claimed police manipulated evidence to frame him because of his gang ties.

Chicago Heights Mayor David Gonzalez said in a statement the agreement, which conceded no wrongdoing by the city or its police and was approved by a federal judge Wednesday, was entered into "to protect the interests of taxpayers and to forge community unity in our diverse city."

Atkins and Armstrong were asleep inside a car when four men forced them out of the vehicle at gunpoint. According to prosecutors, Armstrong said one of the men she identified as Sanders ordered Atkins killed after he admitted he was a member of a rival street gang, the Mickey Cobras. Armstrong was also shot three times but survived and was the sole witness against Sanders.

Read more: http://www.news-gazette.com/news/state/2016-09-29/man-who-spent-20-years-prison-gets-15-million-settlement.html