By Brendan Pierson

Walgreens Boots Alliance has agreed to pay $500 million to New Mexico to settle claims that it fueled opioid addiction in the state by failing to stop illegal pill sales, lawyers for the state announced on Friday.

The settlement came after a non-jury trial last year in the state's lawsuit against the company. The judge overseeing that trial had not yet ruled on the state's claims.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot)