Courtney Zubowski's 5 p.m. update

HOUSTON -- Harris County Commissioners approved a $1.7 million lawsuit settlement Monday for two brothers who said their civil rights were violated.

“Today was a good day for us,” said Erik Ibarra. “We’re going to treat this money as a blessing and go on with our lives.”

Erik Ibarra and his brother, Sean, claimed they were wrongly arrested in 2002 for video taping a sheriff's department drug raid at a neighbor's home.

The Ibarra brothers say their civil rights were violated when deputies stormed their northeast Houston home and destroyed the film in their camera.

“What they did in our home and afterwards and doing over the time we were trying to defend ourselves was unacceptable, illegal and no one should ever have to go through it,” said Sean Ibarra.

For the last couple of weeks, the brothers had been in trial asking for $5 million.

They were suing Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas and four deputies.

Attorneys for the deputies involved said their clients worked undercover in highly dangerous jobs and didn't want their faces exposed.

But over the weekend, their lawyers put a deal on the table and early Monday morning, county commissioners decided to settle.

Despite the settlement, sheriff’s deputies will not admit to any wrongdoing.

“There may have been a few mistakes made,” said Harris County Sheriff Tommy Thomas. “As far as blatantly doing something wrong, I don’t see that, no.”

The Sheriff’s deputies are back at work.

The Ibarra lawsuit led to the discovery of racial and sexually explicit e-mails on District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal's county computer.

Rosenthal testified that Ibarra's arrest might have been unwarranted.

He told the jury: "I don't recall anything in the offense report that somebody should have been arrested for what they did."

He also testified about the sheriff's deputies seizing and destroying photos and some video from the scene. "I did not see anything in the offense report that would have allowed the destruction of evidence without a court order," he said.

“I think the facts that were presented in court, I think the county was certainly heading towards having some liability. I think that it was important that we review this proposed settlement with the lawyer,” said Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack.

The Ibarras’ say they’d like to see an internal investigation.

But for now though, they’re satisfied with the settlement.

In addition to the settlement, the judge in the case will decide how much the county will have to pay in attorney fees and court costs.

That means that $1.7 million will only continue to grow.

The Ibarras say they’ll use it to help move their mom out of the home where this all started more than six years ago.