A jury of six people found that two cigarette companies were largely responsible for John Rizzuto's lung disease and awarded him more than $12 million late Friday.
The jury in Hernando County decided that Philip Morris USA and Liggett Group owes Rizzuto $2,550,000 for his past and future medical expenses and another $10 million for pain and suffering.
Rizzuto suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. The 66-year-old old retired and widowed Spring Hill mailman smoked for decades.
"We're just grateful the jury heard our evidence and delivered a fair and just verdict for a great man from Hernando County," Rizzuto's attorney, Brent Bigger said, told the Tampa Bay Times.
Rizuoto filed suit against Philip Morris and Liggett in 2007, claiming they are partly at fault for his disease. Jurors had to decide how much the cigarette companies were to blame.
Philip Morris' attorneys portrayed Rizzuto as a man who assumed the risks of smoking and who could have quit at any time. He questioned why he didn't ask doctors for help in trying to quit.
But Rizzuto talked about the perception of smoking when he started at age 13 and highlighted his efforts to quit.