A Minneapolis man cleared in a wide-ranging sex-trafficking case is suing six St. Paul police officers for violating his constitutional rights and causing him "irreparable harm."

Yassin Yusuf spent about 4 1/2 years in jail and most of 2013 on electronic home monitoring because of a case that was strongly criticized by a number of judges and finally thrown out in March when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the lead investigator lied to a grand jury and possibly fabricated evidence.

Yusuf is seeking $20 million in damages in a suit filed Monday in federal court against Sgt. Heather Weyker, Commander John Bandemer, four of Weyker's unnamed supervisors, the department and the city.

"Weyker was the lead investigator on this case, which she and Bandemer viewed as the unit's biggest case," the suit said.

Yusuf, 26, was 20 when he was arrested in 2010 as part of the sweeping case that indicted 30 individuals. He was convicted at trial for trafficking one woman, but later acquitted by a district judge. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that decision.

While Yusuf was incarcerated in Kentucky, his grandmother's health deteriorated, one of his sisters got married and one of his brothers had two children. "Yusuf missed all of this and more," the suit said.

The suit alleges that his Fourth, Sixth, 14th and 16th amendment rights were violated and that police supervisors failed to intervene.

One of Yusuf's attorneys, Robert Bennett, said his team is representing 10 other people who were charged in the case, and that more lawsuits will follow.

Weyker was sued two weeks ago for the same investigation.

CHAO XIONG