After a quarter of a century, Steven Pagones, one of the white men accused of rape in 1987 by then-teenaged Tawana Brawley is finally receiving defamation payments. Brawley, then 15-years-old, accused a group of white men of raping her and even writing racial comments on her body. The alleged rape incident has become quite famous, and elicited anger and outrage from people across the globe.

The lewd description of the sexual assault also drew the attention of Rev. Al Sharpton, who became a spokesperson and a adviser to the Brawley family. Investigators later concluded that the rape incident did not occur and that Brawley's claim was an attempt to dodge punishment for breaking her curfew.

Brawley, along with Sharpton and attorneys Alton Maddox and C. Vernon Mason have been charged with defamation and were required to make defamation payments. According to sources, Sharpton, Maddox and Mason have already paid their dues to Pagones. But Brawley still has over $431,000 left to pay in false accusation damages, after paying an initial $3,764.61 in the form of 10 checks according to the New York Post. Initially, the court charged Brawley $190,000 for defamation payment in 1998. Due to persistent refusal to pay the charges though, the defamation payment value has risen with interest over the years.  

Earlier this year, there were fundraising events dedicated to helping Brawley pay the money she owes Pagones. A fundraising event held in New Jersey last May was able to raise a considerable amount of money for the Tawana Brawley Defense Fund. Pagones was not pleased upon hearing of the news. "It's ridiculous," he told the Post. "If Brawley wanted to be a hero in the justice system, she could come out and admit the entire thing was a hoax. She can do the right thing -- she could just tell the truth," he added.

Bawley now works as a licensed practical nurse in Richmond at the Laurels of Bon Air. She will be paying the rest of the defamation charges in accordance to the court order at an estimated rate of $627 per month., Pagones' attorney Gary Bolnick is quite happy with the progress, saying that the payments are symbolically important.