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City officials announced Thursday that they have agreed to pay $9.9 million to settle a civil rights suit filed by Barry Gibbs.

Gibbs, now 62 and living in Belle Harbor, was a postal worker struggling with drug addiction when he was convicted in 1988 of murdering a prostitute. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison and served 19.

His conviction was thrown out in 2005 after investigators found Gibbs was framed by the lead investigator, so-called "mafia cop" Louis Eppolito.

A key witness admitted to being bribed and said Eppolito pressured him into identifying Gibbs as the killer. The original case file was also found in Eppolito's home.

"Once I was picked out of a lineup, I knew I was set up. I knew there was trouble," said Gibbs.

Gibbs said the money cannot make up for the time he lost behind bars.

"What price tag can you put on 19 years an innocent person suffering in jail? There's no amount," said Gibbs. "I was in Attica and when I was there, I got assaulted the first three days I was there. I got threatened, they wanted to extort me, you know. It wasn't a picnic."

Eppolito and Stephen Caracappa are serving life sentences after being convicted in 2006 of eight murders.

"I love it. I love every minute he's in jail, I really do," said Gibbs. "I want him to know that I want him to live a really long life in jail."

Gibbs is suffering from serious health problems, which he hopes he can overcome, like he overcame his years in a cell for a crime he didn't commit.

"I'm never going to make up that time but I sure can look forward to the future, you know, with my kids and my grandkids making sure that they'll have money," said Gibbs.

Gibbs said he wants to buy an apartment near the beach somewhere, where he can relax and continue to work on a documentary about his life.