Former Ill. inmate to collect millions

CHICAGO, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Lawyers for Madison Hobley say the former Illinois death row inmate is moving ahead to collect $6.5 million in a legal settlement with the city of Chicago.

Hobley served 13 years in prison for a 1987 arson fire that killed seven people, including his wife and infant son. He was pardoned by former Illinois Gov. George Ryan in 2003.

The city of Chicago paid Hobley $1 million last year after he filed a wrongful-conviction suit. An additional $6.5 million was withheld pending the outcome of a new federal investigation into the arson, the Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday.

A deadline agreed to under the settlement came and went last Saturday without Hobley being indicted again, which clears the way for him to collect the additional money, said his lawyer, Jon Lovey.

The U.S. attorney's office confirmed Hobley had not been indicted but did not comment on whether the investigation against him continues.

Hobley had maintained that a confession was tortured out of him by former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge and others, the Sun-Times reported.

Burge, who claims Hobley was not tortured, is awaiting trial for allegedly lying in his response to the wrongful-conviction suit filed by Hobley.