ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- A New Jersey judge has ordered Atlantic City's Sands Casino to pay mogul Donald Trump and Penthouse magazine owner Bob Guccione $8 million to settle a property dispute.
Superior Court Judge L. Anthony Gibson issued a 109-page opinion Thursday in what court watchers say might have been the Garden State's most-expensive lawsuit ever.
'This was the longest and costliest trial in the history of Atlantic County, if not the whole state,' said John Barry, Trump's principal attorney in the 4-year-old case.
But Barry described the result as 'a total victory' for Trump.
The 10-month trial -- which produced an estimated 15,000 pages of court documents and cost tens of millions of dollars -- centered on a prime piece of Boardwalk property that Guccione sold to Trump four years ago.
After an unsuccessful attempt 20 years ago to develop a gaming house on the site -- located between Caesars casino and the Trump Plaza -- Guccione sold the parcel to Trump in March 1989.
But that inspired suits and countersuits between Sands parent Pratt Hotel Inc. of Dallas, Guccione and Trump.
Pratt sued argued Trump conspired with Guccione to secure a virtual lock on central Boardwalk properties. Guccione also countersued Pratt.
Judge Gibson ultimately dismissed many of Pratt's claims, including its contention Trump had been seeking a virtual gaming monopoly on the Boardwalk.
