A wrongfully convicted North Carolina man will be awarded more than $6 million for the 17 years he spent behind bars, according to the News & Record.

The city of Greensboro will pay LaMonte Armstrong $6.42 million to settle the federal lawsuit he filed against the city and police upon release from prison in 2012.

Armstrong was convicted in 1995 of the murder of university professor Ernestine Compton seven years prior. Attorneys from the Duke Center for Criminal Justice and Professional Responsibility secured Armstrong’s release based on evidence that linked a convicted murderer to the crime. Investigators identified a palm print belonging to another suspect, Christopher Caviness, at the victim’s home near where her body was discovered.

No physical evidence linked Armstrong to the crime scene, only the testimonies of four incentivized witnesses, one of whom has since recanted citing pressure from police. Armstrong’s attorneys said that prosecutors withheld information during his trial that could have aided in his defense.

Armstrong told the News & Record that he plans to keep his job at the nonprofit organization where he counsels individuals struggling with substance abuse.

“It seems to me that the more I continue to be of service to my fellow man and help people, the more that God continues to serve me,” Armstrong told the paper.

Read the News & Record article here.