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Frank Jude Jr. and the City of Milwaukee have agreed to settle his civil rights lawsuit for $2 million, signaling the end of a seven-year saga that began when Jude was brutally beaten by off-duty police officers outside a party in Bay View.

The tentative settlement was announced in U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman's court Friday. It needs the approval of the Common Council and Mayor Tom Barrett.

Jude's attorney, Jon Safran, confirmed the settlement but declined to comment until it was finalized. Barrett's top aide said the mayor was briefed this week but would wait to see the details before commenting.

The $2 million would settle all claims by Jude in his lawsuit filed more than five years ago and also include his attorney's fees, which were not disclosed.

If approved, the settlement amount would fall between two other high-profile civil rights cases. The city paid $1.6 million to the family of Justin Fields, who was shot by a Milwaukee officer as he drove away from police in 2003. Curtis Harris, who was paralyzed after he was thrown down by a Milwaukee officer also in 2003, received $3 million from the city.

"We believe this settlement is in the best interest of the city," Deputy City Attorney Rudolph Konrad said of the Jude case.

The Jude case rocked the city and Police Department, resulting in a landmark criminal case against the officers and department reforms.

In October 2004, Jude, Lovell Harris and two women went to a party. The men were accused of stealing a police badge. The off-duty officers detained the group. Harris was cut in the face before escaping.

Jude was surrounded, stripped, punched and kicked repeatedly in the head and body and threatened with a knife and gun. Objects were jammed in his ears and his fingers were pulled back.

Federal prosecutor Mel Johnson would later call it an "an intentional, methodical, purposeful, extensive beating over 15 minutes full of sickening acts."

Jude, who is biracial, and Harris, who is black, both said their white attackers used racial slurs. No badge was ever found, and no one was charged with theft.

Botched investigation

From the outset, the investigation was badly handled. Suspect officers were allowed to talk with each other or leave the scene, and little evidence was collected. Officers who were there said they saw nothing.

A Journal Sentinel investigation exposed the beating and failures by police and prosecutors to properly investigate the crime. State criminal charges against three officers were filed soon after the investigation was published.

The officers were acquitted by an all-white jury. Federal charges followed against eight officers, including an on-duty officer who admitted joining in the beating. Seven officers were convicted, with the three main culprits receiving more than 15 years in federal prison - among the longest sentences in the nation in a police civil rights case in which the victim did not die.

Jude's beating also led to the largest single-day purge in Milwaukee Police Department history. Chief Nannette Hegerty fired nine officers, suspended three and demoted one. It also prompted new hiring and training practices.

Though they were fired, the officers continued to draw full pay and benefits under a state law that was unique to Milwaukee. The city paid the three main suspects - Jon Bartlett, Daniel Masarik and Andrew Spengler - more than $475,000 before they were cut off because of their convictions.

The state Legislature changed the law, cutting off pay to fired Milwaukee officers. A bill that would have changed the law back and paid fired officers was vetoed by Gov. Scott Walker last year.

Questions remain about the beating and how the Jude case was investigated.

Shortly after the beating, a police commander investigated a suspected rogue group of officers known as "the Punishers" that included several of those who beat Jude. The supervisor concluded the Punishers, which he called a "brutal and abusive" gang, represented a danger that warranted further investigation and action by the department, according to police documents.

It appears from police documents that little investigation into the group occurred after the beating. Chief Edward Flynn said the matter was investigated in 2008 and deemed to be a rumor.

Jude, 33, filed his $30 million lawsuit against the city in October 2006. The case has dragged on since then with nearly 100 depositions taken. Earlier settlement efforts failed.

Jude himself was in court Friday after being released from prison recently. He had been locked up on a domestic violence conviction unrelated to the police beating.

Besides the $2 million, the city may have to pay attorney fees for police officers who were sued by Jude but who filed their own counterclaims. Those officers argued it was the city's duty to represent them because they claimed they were on duty.