Insurer to pay nearly $5M to 3 of the 4 Alaska men whose convictions in a 1997 killing were vacated

By BECKY BOHRER
Associated Press

The insurer for the city of Fairbanks, Alaska, has agreed to pay a total of nearly $5 million to three of the four Indigenous men who argued they were illegally imprisoned for almost two decades on a murder conviction. The convictions of the so-called Fairbanks Four in a teenager’s 1997 death were vacated in 2015. George Frese, Eugene Vent, Marvin Roberts and Kevin Pease sued the city and argued an agreement that led to their release was not legally binding because they were coerced. The city says a settlement was reached with Pease, Frese and Vent and that Roberts declined a settlement offer. The statement says the insurer made the decision to settle.