An Essex County jury has awarded $18 million to Ghanaian investigative reporter Anas Aremeyaw Anas, ruling that he was defamed by a lawmaker with New Jersey ties who accused him of criminal activity in a series of public statements and media broadcasts. Anas, 47, an award-winning international journalist, was defamed by Ghanaian lawmaker Kennedy Ohene Agyapong over Anas’ reporting on soccer corruption, a jury decided in a unanimous verdict delivered Tuesday. Anas filed suit in New Jersey because Agyapong owns property in West Orange, where he made some of the defamatory comments, according to Ghanaweb.com.