an illinois man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a 1992 rape and murder of a girl, 11, he did not commit has received a $20million settlement juan rivera, 42, was awarded the money in the highest individual settlement given in a wrongful conviction case in us history, his attorneys said on friday at press conference in chicago rivera was tried three times, the first time when he was 19 years old, and was finally cleared in 2012 when his 2009 conviction was reversed for the rape and murder of holly staker of waukegan attorney jon loevy said there has never been a wrongful conviction case where the defendants agreed without a trial to pay compensation in such a large amount, according to abc scroll down for video  an illinois man who spent nearly two decades in prison for a 1992 rape and murder of a girl, 11, he did not commit has received a $20million settlement (above juan rivera, center, stands with attorneys jon loevy, left, and locke bowman, during a news conference friday, march 20, 2015, in chicago) juan rivera (left), 42, was awarded the money in the highest individual settlement given in a wrongful conviction case in us history, his attorneys said on friday  one of the critical factors in his successful appeal was the 2005 dna testing that proved the semend found in staker's body did not belong to him, according to the chicago tribune rivera was coerced into a false confession and his conviction was not an accident or a mistake, said his attorney locke bowman 'this was a deliberate frame up,' said bowman 'this is a terrible travesty' prosecutors claimed that rivera had worn a pair of shoes stained with the girls' blood, according to his attorneys rivera was tried three times, the first time when he was 19 years old, and was finally cleared in 2012 when his 2009 conviction was reversed for the rape and murder of holly staker of waukegan (above, rivera hugging his family after being awarded $20million) rivera, who now works at a medical research facility at northwestern, said he was not angry, but 'hurt, resentful, disappointed and upset' for what he had to go through in prison  rivera was coerced into a false confession and his conviction was not an accident or a mistake, said his attorney locke bowman (left) as he looks forward to a new future, rivera (right) plans to go to college and study business management and accounting, and help pay for his mother's medical bills  however, it was later revealed that the shoes were not available for purchase at the time of the murder, and his lawyers said police had tampered with them it was also discovered that a knife found near the steps of the crime was destroyed by waukegan police rivera was released from prison on january 6, 2012, a day he has declared as his new birthday, according to nbc one of the critical factors in rivera's successful appeal was the 2005 dna testing that proved his semen was not the sperm found in staker's body (above holly staker, 11, who was raped and murdered in 1992) last year, cops linked dna from the semen found in staker with dna obtained from a two by four used to brutally beat a man, delwin foxworth, eight years later in 2000 failure to identify and arrest staker’s real killer allowed the real killer commit a second murder, according to rivera's lawyers 'while mr rivera fought to clear his name and officials fought to keep him in prison, the man who really committed the crime was free to commit this additional crime,' said steven art, one of rivera’s attorneys the law enforcement officers who were sued in the federal case are being dismissed as defendants, and will not have to pay damages, according to the chicago tribune rivera, who now works at a medical research facility at northwestern, said he was not angry, but 'hurt, resentful, disappointed and upset' for what he had to go through in prison he also said that while $20million is great, he would have preferred 20 years spent with his family rivera said: 'to say that $20 million is a wonderful thing, of course i can live more comfortably now, my family can, i can go to college and get my education the way i've always wanted, but i still would prefer my 20 years with my family' as he looks forward to the future, rivera plans to go to college, study business management and accounting, and help pay for his mother's medical bills he thanked his attorneys, and noted that other unjustly accused people are still incarcerated in illinois and around the world rivera was released from prison on january 6, 2012, a day he has declared as his new birthday (above rivera is greeted after exiting stateville correctional center in crest hill, illinois on january 2012 after spending 20 years in prison) rivera said: 'i just want to say thank you and live life with my family as best as we can and look forward to a beautiful future' despite the dna matches, the identity of the potential suspect in both murders remains unknown authorities have entered the genetic profile into dna databanks but have not obtained a match with a known suspect last year, cops linked dna from the semen found in staker with dna obtained from a two by four used to brutally beat a man, delwin foxworth, eight years later in 2000 despite the dna matches, the identity of the potential suspect in both murders remains unknown (above a map of where staker and foxworths' murders took place)
juan rivera us rivera holly staker waukegan
juan rivera, 42, was awarded money in highest individual settlement given in a wrongful conviction case in us history, his attorneys said on friday . rivera was tried three times,  first time at 19, and was cleared in 2012 when conviction was reversed for rape and murder of holly staker of waukegan . he plans to go to college and study business management and accounting, and help pay for his mother's medical bills 