SJODIN FAMILY SETTLES WITH STATE

Dru Sjodin's family has reached a financial settlement with the State of Minnesota. The family was preparing to sue the state for more than a $1-Million dollars in a wrongful death suit. The $300,000 settlement cancels the lawsuit. Alphonso Rodriguez was sentenced to death last year for the young Pequot Lakes' woman's kidnapping and death in 2003. Rodriguez had been released from prison rather than committed as a sexual predator. Corrections Commission Joan Fabian told KARE-TV that Minnesota has made significant changes in the way it handles sex offenders because of the Sjodin case.