Justice prevailed for two businessmen after a 13 year long legal battle. An Orlando judge has ordered Florida's Attorney General to pay the men $5.3 million after their Florida bingo halls were shut down in raids by authorities who accused them of cheating charities.
Gordon Paget, 69, of Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, was pleased with the ruling in his favour but said the ordeal had been long, trying and expensive.

Paget and partner Philip Furtney, of London, Ontario, Canada, opened a series of bingo halls throughout Florida in the mid-1990s, including one in Orlando and another in Kissimmee. They were accused of breaking a number of bingo regulations, and a state grand jury in Orlando in 1995 indicted them on racketeering charges.
Furtney spent several weeks in the Orange County jail before his release. He was acquitted by an Orange County jury in 1999, and authorities dropped charges against Paget.

That did not stop the legal dispute. The attorney general's office pressed on with a lawsuit, alleging that Furtney and Paget should pay damages. The case went before an Orange County jury in 2005 and the panel sided with the state. The businessmen appealed.

Senior Judge Lawrence V. Johnston held a new trial in June, and on Aug. 20, issued his ruling: The Attorney General's Office had no right to close the bingo halls and seize property.

Furtney died last September at age 69. His brother, Bruce Furtney said the long legal fight took a toll on him.