A Shelby County blogger, who spent five months in jail before agreeing to remove stories from his website about the son of a former governor, has now been ordered to pay $3.5 million in a defamation lawsuit filed by a former campaign manager for Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange.

The blogger had written about an alleged affair between Strange and the campaign manager.

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Donald Blankenship on Monday entered a default judgment against Roger Shuler and his website Legal Schnauzer for $1.5 million in compensatory and $2 million in punitive damages. The judge wrote that all the elements for the judgment were present, including that a false and defamatory statement was made.

Jessica Medeiros Garrison, a Birmingham lawyer, filed the defamation lawsuit in 2013 against Shuler. She had managed Strange's 2010 campaign for Alabama Attorney General and served as Chief Counsel and Deputy Attorney General in 2011.

"The facts are clear and the judgment speaks for itself," Garrison stated in an email Tuesday to AL.com. "The absolute and blatant disregard for the truth has to come with consequences. I am very happy to finally be in a position to set the record straight," she wrote.

Bill Baxley, one of Garrison's attorneys, also said the ruling "speaks for itself." He said he doubts his client will be able to collect any money from Shuler, who had his house foreclosed upon a year or so ago.

Joel Dillard, another attorney for Garrison, said they are grateful that the judget returned a verdict that adequately compensates Garrison. "She is the righteous, kind, gracious working mother of a young son she adores, and this fact magnified this outrageous wrong. Shuler's statements about her were not just libelous, they were plucked from thin air, and were cyber-bullying of the worst order," Dillard stated.

Strange also issued a statement today.

"I am pleased the court has confirmed there was no truth to these lies and that some measure of justice has been done," Strange stated.

Shuler failed or refused to sit for a scheduled deposition. He was sanctioned by Judge Blankenship, who then set a March hearing for sanctions and default judgment.

At the March 9 hearing the judge heard testimony from Garrison and Strange. Both testified the allegations Shuler had written that the two had an extramarital affair and had a son together were false, according to the judge's order.

Shuler, or any lawyer representing him, did not attend the hearing.

Garrison testified that Shuler had written false comments in his Legal Schnauzer blog concerning her and Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, the judge's order states.

"The (Legal Schnauzer) comments suggested that the plaintiff (Garrison) received preferential treatment from the Attorney General because the two were engaged in an ongoing extramarital affair; and that the Attorney General was the father of the Plaintiff's minor son," the judge's order stated.

Garrison testified that the comments were false and "were embarrassing, hurtful and degrading."

"She testified further that the comments made it difficult to perform her job. She works with a national organization, The Republican Attorneys General Association," according to the judge's order.

Garrison also stated that since the comments have now become widely known, she constantly suffers from embarrassment and anxiety, according to the judge's orders. "She testified that she worries about how the comments could later affect her minor son."

Strange also testified that the comments concerning his relationship with Garrison and a photo on the website that was cropped to make it appear Strange and Garrison were alone, were false.

Attorney General Luther Strange

"The Court finds the comments defamatory," Judge Blankenship stated in his order.

Efforts to reach Shuler for comment were unsuccessful prior to publication of this story.

Last year a Shelby County judge also issued a writ of arrest for Roger Shuler, author of the Legal Schnauzer blog regarding motion to revoke Shuler's probation on his conviction on a misdemeanor resisting arrest charge. The motion states that Shuler failed to make payment of court ordered fees and fines and did not appear as ordered by the court.

Shuler was charged with resisting arrest last fall when he was taken into custody on a contempt of court charge filed by judge after Shuler, at least initially, refused to remove stories he had written on Legal Schnauzer that Rob Riley, the son of the former governor, had an affair.

Rob Riley had sued Shuler in October for libel and sought the injunction to force Shuler to remove the posts. The judge ordered Shuler to remove the post and ordered the blogger jailed for contempt when he didn't do it immediately. Shuler remained in jail until the judge ordered his release in March after his wife removed certain stories from the blog.

Shuler's incarceration for contempt drew national attention from groups that claims Shuler's First Amendment rights were violated. The ACLU and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filed briefs on his behalf.

Weeks after the posts were removed Rob Riley complained that a very similar website with Shuler's posts had appeared. Shuler denied he had anything to do with the other website.

A lawsuit last year also sought to have Shuler and his wife removed from their north Shelby County house after a company bought it out of foreclosure.

Updated at 12:30 p.m. April 14, 2015 with comments from Garrison. Updated 2 p.m. April 14, 2015 with statement from Strange.