New York ( CNN ) -- A federal judge has approved a $ 41 million civil rights settlement to five black and Hispanic men wrongfully convicted in the horrific beating and rape of a white female jogger in New York 's Central Park in 1989 , Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement Friday . The sensational case polarized the city along racial lines and became emblematic of a state of rampant crime . Five minority teenagers , who became known as the Central Park Five , were coerced amid public uproar into making incriminating statements and convicted in 1990 . `` This settlement is an act of justice for those five men that is long overdue , '' de Blasio said in the statement . `` We can finally put this case behind us , and these five men and their families can begin to heal these wounds and move forward . '' The agreement between the city law department and the five men -- who served between seven and 13 years in prison -- averaged about $ 1 million per year of incarceration , was reached in June . One of the men , Kharey Wise , served 13 years in prison . Kevin Richardson , Antron McCray , Yusef Salaam and Raymond Santana Jr. each served about seven years . The approval of a federal judge in U.S. District Court in Manhattan , where the men filed their civil rights lawsuit , was the final step for the settlement to take effect . On April 19 , 1989 , a 28-year-old Wall Street investment banker jogging through Central Park was raped , viciously beaten and left for dead . She would have no memory of the attack . That same night , a group of black and Latino boys had been in the park , throwing rocks at cars and assaulting people in a practice the media and law enforcement at the time called `` wilding . '' An investigation led to the arrest of five teens who were accused of rampaging through the park in a `` wolf pack '' and preying on innocent victims . They were charged and convicted . The victim , Trisha Meili , kept her identity hidden for 14 years until the publication of her book , `` I Am the Central Park Jogger . '' Three of the convicted young men had finished their prison terms , one was on parole and the fifth was in jail on an unrelated offense when Matias Reyes , a serial rapist and murderer in 2002 confessed to the crime and said he had acted alone . DNA analysis later determined that Reyes did rape the jogger and that hair evidence used in the boys ' trials did not match . Robert M. Morgenthau , the Manhattan district attorney at the time , ordered a new investigation and , on his recommendation , a judge vacated the convictions . `` To the extent that the evidence suggests that these five young men were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to substantial prison terms for a crime they did not commit , that in and of itself constitutes an injustice in need of redress , '' Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter said in a statement Friday . But Carter said the settlement `` should not be construed as an acknowledgment that the convictions ... were the result of law enforcement misconduct . '' `` On the contrary , our review of the record suggests that both the investigating detectives and the Assistant District Attorneys involved in the case acted reasonably , given the circumstances with which they were confronted , '' he said . `` In the end , however , that is an issue that would ultimately be determined by a jury at trial , absent a settlement of this litigation . We have determined that a resolution of this matter is in the best interests of the City . '' Three exonerated in Central Park jogger case thank supporters .
Five men were wrongly convicted in the horrific attack on a jogger in 1989 . They served years in prison before being exonerated . The sensational case polarized New York City along racial lines . In 2002 , a serial rapist and murderer confessed to the crime and said he had acted alone .