Tawana Brawley Begins Making Defamation Payments

A black woman who set off a racial firestorm after claiming she was raped by a gang of white law enforcement officials in 1987 has begun making defamation payments to a man she falsely accused.

Tawana Brawley was 15 when she reported being raped in New York. A grand jury concluded Brawley's story was a hoax.

The New York Post reports Brawley has paid just over $3,700 to former county prosecutor Steven Pagones. Pagones won a claim against her and her advisers, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, after he was named as an attacker.

Brawley was initially ordered to pay $190,000 but now owes more than $400,000 with interest.

She now lives in Virginia and works as a nurse. Her parents have insisted Brawley's claim of being raped was true.