A judge has ruled in a civil suit that leaders and members of a polygamist church bilked a woman out of $1.54 million in a 1989 real estate deal.
Fourth District Judge Donald Eyre awarded Virginia Hill the $1.54 million plus more than $1.8 million in interest.
He also held that Owen Allred, the 89-year-old leader of the Apostolic United Brethren, laundered thousands of dollars and conspired to steal more.
The judge ordered Allred to pay damages of $30,000 to Hill.
Allred's role included accepting $30,000 in cash as tithing in 1990, only to later transfer the money in a cashier's check to co-defendant John Putvin as a way "to launder Hill's money," according to Tuesday's ruling by Eyre.
Lamoine Jensen, the man picked to succeed Allred as leader of the estimated 4,000-member church, is liable for another $30,000 and the church itself was ordered to pay $250,000.
AUB member James Sandmire, who allegedly funneled much of Hill's money into a number of businesses, was found liable for $500,000 in damages. Dennis Matthews, an AUB bishop, and ex-church member Putvin, who represented himself at trial, are liable for the balance, Eyre ruled.
The judge refused to assess any punitive damages, saying "Hill has not come before the court with clean hands. (She) was simply unable to show that she came into possession of the money legally."
Hill, a one-time South American movie actress actor and the ex-wife of a Detroit bookie, claimed the money came from gambling and as gifts from a series of lovers.
Allred's lawyer, Bel-Ami de Montreux, called the decision a "tremendous victory."
"Virginia Hill set out to bankrupt the church. She expected to win in excess of $30 million," de Montreux said. "My clients are still standing quite upright because (Hill) completely failed. She has been awarded (only) 10 percent of that amount."
John Llewellyn, a former AUB member who assisted Hill's lawyer, said the ruling showed that the defendants "were culpable from the beginning. That is more important than the money."
Putvin, promising to appeal, called himself a scapegoat and said Eyre "was under some considerable pressure. . . . to make a token punishment" of the polygamists.
In 1997, Hill sued Allred, dozens of his followers and businesses owned by the AUB. She claimed she paid Putvin more than $1.5 million in cash through her agent, wandering polygamous preacher John Shugart, intending to buy the 831-acre Desert Inn Ranch about 25 miles west of St. George.
Shugart, who considers himself the reincarnation of Brigham Young, thought the sprawling ranch was a sacred site and planned to transform it into a haven for polygamists.
Hill gave Shugart the money, and he passed the cash on to Matthews and Putvin, who were supposed to purchase the ranch, according to the suit.
Putvin said he used the cash to finance a number of businesses, as Shugart had ordered.