( CNN ) -- After 26 years , Tawana Brawley has finally begun paying damages to Steven Pagones , a man she falsely accused of being among a group of men who raped her in 1987 . Brawley 's payment comes in the form of nearly $ 3,800 in wage garnishments , Pagones told CNN Sunday . Brawley still owes Pagones more than $ 400,000 in defamation damages . In fall 1987 , Brawley , who is African-American , was found disheveled inside a trash bag with racial slurs written across her body in Wappingers Falls , New York . Brawley , then 15 , claimed she was kidnapped and repeatedly raped by a group of white men . In one of his first mainstream cases , activist Al Sharpton became Brawley 's spokesman , staging rallies and calling for justice on her behalf . Sharpton fights different 'wars ' When the case was brought before a grand jury , it concluded that Brawley had falsified the entire account . Pagones , who was an assistant district attorney , filed a civil suit that named Brawley , Sharpton and Brawley 's lawyers as defendants . Sharpton has since paid his debt to Pagones . But Brawley , now 41 and a nurse living in Virginia , still owes Pagones more than $ 431,000 . Pagones says he will forgive the debt if Brawley issues a personal apology and finally clears his name of all wrongdoing . `` Just tell the truth . That 's all I 'm looking for here . I have been battling this since day one , and it 's really all about telling the truth , '' Pagones said . Calls to Brawley were not returned . CNN 's Julia Lull contributed to this report .
Tawana Brawley claimed that Steven Pagones and others raped her in 1987 . Brawley , who is black , said the white men wrote racial slurs on her body . Al Sharpton took up her cause , which a grand jury later found to be false . Brawley started paying Pagones monies owed from a defamation lawsuit .