The panel returned the verdict late Friday after a 10-day trial. U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, who presided over the trial, has the option of adding interest to the $19.25 million award against Randy Haugen, Steven E. Brady, Stephen L. Bybee and Ted Randal Walker.

"This is about protecting our reputation," a Procter & Gamble attorney said in a news release. "We will take appropriate legal measures when competitors unfairly undermine the reputation of our brands or our company."

The judgment comes after a dozen years of litigation. P&G filed suit against Haugen, of Ogden, and three other distributors in 1995 over their dissemination of the devil-worship hoax through Amway's voice-mail system. The four passed along the false story that P&G's president had appeared on a TV talk show and announced his company's affiliation with the Church of Satan.

P&G - a Cincinnati-based maker of laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, toothpaste and other products - claims the Amway distributors cost it millions of dollars in sales by spreading the story. 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., a multilevel marketer of household products, was dismissed as a defendant and various claims were thrown out. Remaining as defendants by the time the case went to trial were Haugen, Brady, Bybee and Walker.

pmanson@sltrib.com