THOMASVILLE — A record-setting $2 million-plus verdict returned in Thomas County Superior Court five months ago was thrown out Thursday by the same judge who presided at the February trial.

Judge John K. Langford’s ruling in the civil action was in favor of defendant Ronald A. Cohen, a former Thomasville lawyer imprisoned in Florida.

Langford, an Atlanta senior judge, said there was no evidence to support the three-part verdict, and the cases already had been decided.

Cohen, who was disbarred, is serving a federal prison term after being convicted in Gainesville (Fla.) U.S. District Court in an international loan scam.

In the local civil case, plaintiffs — from Washington, Texas and Pennsylvania — wired money in 1995 to an account controlled by Cohen at the Bank of America in New York. Jurors found that Cohen purchased office equipment and hired a secretary for the sole purpose of securing and transmitting funds obtained through illegal activity.

Langford ruled several years ago in summary judgments — and the Georgia Court of appeals affirmed his decisions — that there was not sufficient evidence to present to a jury in the cases.

He later granted a trial to determine if the cases and evidence were the same as the earlier cases.

Art Shelfer, Thomasville lawyer for the plaintiffs, said immediately after Langford’s Thursday ruling that he doesn’t know if he will appeal.

In announcing his decision Thursday morning, Langford said he was satisfied Cohen committed wrongdoings, “and some people suffered losses or damages as a result of Mr. Cohen’s actions.”

However, he said, the February trial has to be judged on evidence presented by the three plaintiffs.

“In this case, the law does not allow this verdict,” Cohen lawyer Converse Bright told the judge. Cohen, who was not present at the hearing, also was represented by Thomasville attorneys Elliott McCollum and Mark Thedieck.

Clearly, some of the jury awards included attorneys’ fees, said Bright, a Valdosta lawyer. Awarding of attorneys’ fees is allowed in Georgia Racketeering-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act cases, but they must be awarded after a trial, he said.

The February verdicts included contingency-type attorneys’ fees, Bright told the court.

Citing monetary awards in the verdict, Bright said, “They don’t make sense.”

In American history and jurisprudence, few things are more sacred than a jury’s verdict, Shelfer argued.

Any court and judge may exercise discretion, he said. “It has been my experience that an appellate court will not disturb a discretion,” he added.

Shelfer told Langford he thought the February jury spoke the truth in the case. “Jurors in Thomas County see the big picture,” he said. “They listen to everything.”

” … What matters is what the jury thought,” Shelfer said, noting that Bright’s “well-crafted” argument described the evidence as light.

Cohen has shown no remorse, Shelfer told Langford, “and he is not deserving of the mercy of this court.”