The 6 year, $600K lawsuit was something they initiated against the county.

The initial charges against them were initially dropped to misdemeanors and then dismissed entirely, but that was a separate matter resolved earlier.

This isn't a felony case. In fact, I'm not sure it ever was? It's not clear from their amended complaint, but they were ultimately charged with simple trespassing, a misdemeanor. Those trespassing charges were themselves dismissed a few months later.

What we're talking about today is the resolution of what looks to me (not a lawyer) mostly like a defamation case. Were they defamed? Absolutely. The problem is, to get anything useful out of a defamation case, you need to demonstrate damages. They were accused of a crime --- per se defamation --- but the point of the suit is to recover damages.

I don't want to be glib, and I'm very prepared to be wrong, but the Dallas County Courthouse Incident is likely one of the top 3 world events to have happened to both these pentesters. They've been cause celebres in the field for years and years. It might be pretty tricky to actually demonstrate damages.

I'd gladly take such a payout.

Split 2 ways, that is still 300k.

Parked in an investment at 5% a year, that's an easy +$15,000/year for the rest of your life.