MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – The family of a prison inmate who hanged himself in solitary confinement will receive $750,000 from the state to settle a lawsuit.

The family of James Quigley plans to use much of the money to help other Vermont inmates fight grievances over their treatment in custody.

Quigley hanged himself in his cell at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans on Oct. 7, 2003, where he was serving a life sentence for murder. Quigley had spent 118 days in solitary confinement.

“I feel it’s the beginning of greater changes for the penal institution,” Quigley’s mother, Claire Quigley, said Friday from her home in New Jersey.

Her lawyer, David Sleigh of St. Johnsbury, said most of the money will be used to establish a fund to provide legal representation for inmates who, like James Quigley, contest their treatment in prison.

Sleigh said he is trying to figure out the best way to invest the money to keep the fund going.