California man cleared after 40 years in prison gets $21M

The city of Simi Valley has reached a $21 million settlement with a man wrongly imprisoned for nearly 40 years in the killing of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old son.

Craig Coley was released in 2017 after he was pardoned by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, who said DNA evidence and re-investigation proved Coley's innocence.

The Los Angeles Times reported Simi Valley officials said the agreement would mitigate long, costly and unnecessary legal proceedings. City Manager Eric Levitt said in a statement "while no amount of money can make up for what happened to Mr. Coley, settling this case is the right thing to do for Mr. Coley and our community." The city will pay about $4.9 million and the rest is expected to be paid by insurance and other sources.

The state last year approved a separate, nearly $2 million payment for Coley. He’s now 71.

Coley spent 39 years behind bars after he was wrongly convicted of killing 24-year-old Rhonda Wicht from Simi Valley and her son in 1978.