The case of an Illinois man creating a parody Twitter account of a public official ended in a cash settlement Wednesday, after courts determined he was not in violation of the law, according to Fox News.
The City of Peoria has agreed to pay Jon Daniel $125,000 after police officials raided his home last year due to a fake Twitter account of the city's mayor, Jim Ardis.
Authorities originally investigated the case with the belief that Daniel was impersonating a government official and raided his home in response, confiscating electronic devices, bringing three people in for questioning and detaining others at their work, as previously reported by HNGN.
Though no charges were filed against Daniel, with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, he was able to sue the city in 2014 for damages and attorney fees.
But Mayor Ardis still feels the joke went too far and that it wasn't obvious the account was fake, resulting in his name and reputation being sullied, according to the Chicago Tribune.
"Im bout [sic] to climb the civic center and do some lines on the roof who's in," read one post made on the fake account.
But the ACLU attorneys made it clear that Daniel was well within his right, despite the mayor's protests.
"The directive makes it clear that parody should never be the predicate for a criminal investigation and that the action against Mr. Daniel should never be repeated again," said attorney Karen Sheley.
