Indigenous men imprisoned for 18 years for Alaska murder settle for $5M after vacated conviction

By Becky Bohrer THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Three of the four Indigenous men who served 18 years in prison for a murder conviction in Alaska that was ultimately vacated will receive a total of nearly $5 million in a settlement confirmed by the city of Fairbanks on Monday. The convictions of the so-called Fairbanks Four in the 1997 death of Fairbanks teenager John Hartman were vacated in 2015 after a key state witness recanted testimony and following a weeks-long hearing reexamining the case that raised the possibility others had killed Hartman. The men, George Frese, Eugene Vent, Marvin Roberts and Kevin Pease, argued that an agreement that led to their release in which they agreed not to sue was not legally binding because they were coerced. The men also maintained there…

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