HOUSTON (AP) — The city of Houston has reached a $3.1 million settlement with a man who spent more than 17 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit.

George Rodriguez was wrongly convicted and sentenced to 60 years in prison on the basis of what the city now describes as a faulty analysis of DNA evidence by the city crime lab.

Rodriguez was freed on the basis of new DNA evidence in 2004. He was ineligible for state compensation, though, because the city was appealing a $5 million federal jury verdict returned in 2009.

Friday’s settlement ends Rodriguez’s legal battle. Mayor Annise Parker says that “anyone with any compassion has to offer a heartfelt apology.”

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