Could you imagine being unjustly labeled by the media? That's what happened in 1989, when five African-American teens were wrongly accused and convicted of raping a Caucasian woman who was jogging in the park. The media labeled them the "Central Park 5."

After they were exonerated in 2002, the men eventually received a $41 million settlement, according to New York Daily News (NYDN).

In 2016, the State of New York made another payment to the Central Park five. NYDN says the amount was $3.9 million and disbursed as follows:

  • Raymond Santana - $500,000
  • Antron McCray - $600,000
  • Yusef Salaam - $650,000
  • Kevin Richardson - $650,000
  • and Korey Wise - $1,5000,000.

Reportedly, Wise spent nearly double the time in prison than the other four men. Nevertheless, Jonathan Moore has been the Central Park five's attorney regarding both settlements. He says that, while people think it's a lot of money, it's pales in comparison to what these men have endured.

They were wrongfully convicted of a heinous crime and did time they weren't ever supposed to experience. The Central Park five's lawyer says there's no amount of money that could compensate the men, adequately.

Reportedly, the CP5 were initially seeking $52 million in the first settlement against the State. However, under New York's wrongful conviction [VIDEO] statute, they would've had to prove their innocence had the case gone to trial.

According to him, they've struggled every day since 1989 and are still struggling with the results of the wrongful conviction.

The attorney says that Antron McCray wakes up in fear someone's going to take him away, every day. Likewise, Kevin Richardson relives the pain he endured in prison, every day. Each one of the Central Park five are dealing with their traumas differently.

'Central Park five': The real attacker admits crime

New York Daily News reports that the men were exonerated once Matias Reyes, the man who actually raped the Caucasian jogger, admitted to his crime against the woman.

DNA evidence corroborated his admission. According to Michael B. Jordan, the men never changed their stories during the entire length of their sentences. If you know anything about lies, they tend to change over time, especially if the person telling the lie can't exactly remember what they previously said.

In an ILOSM report, the CP5 recently were awarded the Roger Baldwin Courage Award from the ACLU, concerning this situation. Yusef Salaam mentions that he thanks Ava DuVernay for helping vindicate their names with the Netflix miniseries "When They See Us." He says they've had to struggle to break the label given to them by the media in 1989. "We stumbled forward, falling on our face at times," Salaam says.
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