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A Jersey City man whose apartment was searched illegally by police almost three years ago will receive $20,000 from Jersey City to settle a lawsuit.

(File photo)

A Jersey City man whose apartment was searched illegally by police almost three years ago will receive $20,000 from Jersey City to settle a lawsuit.

Keith Pantaleon, who now lives in New York, was charged with possession of an assault rifle and other related counts, but those charges were dismissed by Hudson County Superior Court Judge John Young in February 2014, a month after Young had ruled the police officers' search illegal.

In that ruling, Young was extremely critical of the officers involved, Ehab Abdelaziz and Sean Francis Licata, saying they were not truthful in their testimony during an evidentiary hearing.

Young wrote that Abdelaziz and Licata testified that they stood in Pantaleon's doorway and did not enter his apartment until they saw a gun. Two witnesses, Panaleon's landlord and another tenant, testified that police entered the apartment with them, although the landlord was not given permission by Pantaleon to enter.

"We are pleased with the way the case was settled, that Keith was compensated for what he went through," said Evan Nappen, Pantaleon's attorney. "I am glad justice was served and the criminal charges were dismissed."

Jersey City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill did not comment on the lawsuit, but she noted the incident predated the current administration.

The incident began when the heat stopped working at the Tuers Avenue multi-family home where Pantaleon lived. A third-floor tenant had blamed Pantaleon and the landlord wanted to show police and the other tenant that Pantaleon could not have tampered with the thermostat and boiler for two of the apartments, which were located in his apartment.

The lawsuit said he was falsely arrested and as a result of the arrest and incarceration, Pantaleon lost his job as an IT specialist at Deutsche Bank. The suit also said Pantaleon was mistreated after his arrest and he spent 35 days in jail.