Four eastern suburbs have paid Golden Gloves boxing champion Monty Clay a secret financial settlement to drop his lawsuit alleging police brutality.

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Monty Clay's left arm was in a sling following the January 2002 incident involving police from four suburbs. Click photo for larger image.

The towns -- Braddock, Edgewood, Rankin and Swissvale -- demanded confidentiality clauses to prevent any terms from being revealed. Arguing that municipal governments are not permitted under state law to keep financial settlements secret, the Post-Gazette yesterday asked for the specific terms.

Clay received about $50,000 to drop the case, though no borough executive or elected official would be precise about the amount. Some said they knew nothing about the settlement or any payment.

Shawn Flaherty, the lawyer who represented Clay, said the agreement was reached within the past two months, but the terms were sealed on demand of lawyers for the suburban governments.

Clay, who turns 23 this month, claimed in the federal lawsuit that he was assaulted by officers from the four boroughs the night of Jan. 19, 2002.

By Clay's account, the attack was unprovoked. He was outside Jay's Auto Detailing Shop in Rankin, about to begin his 11 p.m. shift as a jitney driver. Then, Clay said, 15 to 20 police officers from the four boroughs swarmed the street in response to a report that shots had been fired at the nearby Palisades Plaza housing development.

A handful of officers began questioning Clay. He told them he had not been at Palisades Plaza that evening. Clay said four or five of the officers responded violently.

Though a trained fighter, the 5-foot-2, 130-pound Clay said he never lifted a hand against police. But the officers, he said, handcuffed him, pinned him against a car, called him a racial slur, hit him in the head, shoved snow in his face and grabbed his ponytail with so much force that his neck was injured.

He said the attack left him in so much pain that he was not able compete in the Olympic trials.

No officer arrested Clay that night. Police from the four departments later declined to furnish any reports about the confrontation or discuss what Clay had done.

Only Rankin, where Clay's uncle, William Price III, is council president, acknowledged that some sort of trouble had occurred between police and Clay.

Clay sued the four suburbs on April 24, 2002. Three days later, police from Edgewood and Swissvale launched an undercover cocaine investigation aimed at Clay.

McKeesport detective Joe Osinski, who worked with Edgewood and Swissvale officers, signed investigation reports that said Clay twice sold him cocaine.

Clay was not arrested either time. Police wrote in one report that Clay had agreed to deliver heroin to an undercover buyer. Police said the heroin sale was dropped after Clay said he could not make the delivery personally.

None of the police departments involved would comment. Clay is scheduled to go on trial May 3 in Common Pleas Court. If convicted, he could go to prison for one to three years.

"I don't sell drugs or take drugs. The police tried to set me up because I was suing them," Clay said yesterday.

Robert DelGreco, who took over as Clay's lawyer during the past two weeks, said he was still becoming familiar with the case. But, he said, he believes the case against Clay is based on an unidentified informant with numerous legal problems of his own.

Clay discharged Flaherty from the criminal case in favor of DelGreco, who has represented other sports figures, including Steelers running back Jerome Bettis.

Flaherty said he struggled for a year to force police to turn over tapes of Clay or any other evidence they had. After denying that such evidence of a drug sting existed, police eventually supplied Flaherty with a copy of a videotape.

"It shows Monty pulling into a BP [gas station] and an undercover officer talking to him. There is nothing incriminating," Flaherty said.

Clay said he was taped after police had an informant call him for a ride in Clay's jitney.

Clay had numerous run-ins with police from eastern boroughs after he was charged in the cocaine case. He lost his driver's license after being stopped for speeding. Clay admitted yesterday that he did not pay the fine, saying he was broke at the time.

A two-time state Golden Gloves champion, Clay has since turned pro and started making some money. He is 7-0, with four knockouts, fighting as a lightweight.

He trains in Ambridge now but will not disclose where he is living. He said he fears police.

"I took this settlement to get 'em off my back," Clay said. "It was for peace of mind, so I could start another chapter in my life. But it seems this is a never-ending story, like the twilight zone, because of the criminal case. I have to put it in God's hands."

Some borough officials said they knew nothing about the settlement.

"I don't have the papers or I'd tell you," said Rankin Borough Secretary Patricia DiNinno. "You'll have to call our solicitor."

Flaherty said the confidentiality agreement was insisted upon by lawyers for the four suburbs. Clay said he prefers to focus on his next fight, Feb. 25 in West Virginia.

"I never reflect on my life at 21 or 22," Clay said. "Those are supposed to be best years of your life. For me, they're too painful to think about."