A federal jury in Salt Lake City made that damage award to the household products company, which had pursued its claims for more than a decade in the courts.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, who presided over the 10-day trial, has the option of adding interest to the $19,250,000 award.
The jury's Friday verdict came after a dozen years of litigation. P&G filed suit against Randy Haugen of Ogden and three other distributors in 1995. The company charged the four had disseminated the devil-worship hoax through Amway's voice-mail system.
P&G said the Amway quartet passed along the false story that P&G's president had told a television talk show that his company was affiliated with the Church of Satan.
That never happened. But the Cincinnati-based maker of laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other products claims the rumors still cost it millions of dollars in sales.
The Amway defendants say they merely repeated a rumor they believed at the time to be true.
During the drawn-out legal battle, Amway Corp. itself was dismissed as a defendant and various other claims were thrown out. Remaining as defendants by the time the case went to trial were Haugen, Steven E. Brady, Stephen L. Bybee and Ted Randal Walker.
