After a Florida jury found that CNN defamed a U.S. Navy veteran who helped rescue endangered Afghans, the network reached a settlement on Friday to avoid a punishing order that it pay punitive damages.

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (CN) — A Florida jury of six began deliberations Thursday afternoon and will soon decide if CNN defamed Zachary Young, a U.S. Navy veteran and security consultant, by painting him as an illegal profiteer and implicating him in "black market" evacuations in a story on the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.

CNN has been found liable for defaming a security consultant featured in a report about the black market to evacuate Afghans during the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.