The city and state have been forced to whip out the wrongful ​prosecution checkbooks once again​, agreeing​ on Thursday​ to pay two Manhattan men a total of $9 million ​over their overturned ​convictions on murder ​that saw them serve 16 years each​ in prison​.

Anthony Ortiz and Danny Colon were found guilty in 1993 of a Lower East Side drive-by drug slaying based solely on the testimony of ​a ​junkie ​witness named ​Anibal Vera.

The ​heroin addict​, who was facing jail at the time of his testimony​, initially said that he heard rumblings of their involvement on the street before later claiming that they fully confessed to him.

But an appeals court tossed the conviction​s​ in 2009​, finding that prosecutors obscured benefits Vera received in exchange for his testimony​. Others involved in the incident also helped exonerate the two men.

“This case demonstrates that the illegal tactics used by New York City detectives and prosecutors to bring about so many wrongful convictions during the ‘Drug Wars’ of the late 1980s and 1990s were not limited to Brooklyn,” said their attorney, Joel Rudin.

Colon and Ortiz sued the city, the state and the city ​Housing ​A​uthority and all three parties are contributing to the settlement amount.

Rudin praised the parties for all chipping in and said that the collaborative arrangement saves taxpayer money.

“I am scarred by losing so many years of my life,” Ortiz, 50, said after the deal was reached. “I lost the opportunity to raise my son, and I can never get that back. But I’m elated that this is over and I now have what I need to get on with my life.”

Rudin, praised the city for expediently agreeing to the deal before any depositions took place.

The lawyer​ recently scored a $13 million combined city and state deal for another wrongfully convicted man, Jabbar Collins.