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St. George • A former bodyguard for polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has won a multimillion-dollar judgment stemming from his lawsuit against church leaders.

William "Willie" Jessop, in his district court suit filed in February, claims leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ruined his business.

He seeks more than $57 million in damages and $25 million in punitive damages.

The Spectrum of St. George reports (http://bit.ly/LNXP9X ) Monday's ruling by Judge G. Rand Beacham found two of the defendants, Lyle Jeffs and John Wayman, liable for some damages because they failed to respond to a court summons and lost the case by default.

Jessop's attorney says the judgment allows him to pursue the collection from the two of nearly $30 million addressed by the court.