A federal jury has awarded $8 million to a weekly Westchester newspaper whose copies were confiscated by the mayor of Yonkers.

The Westchester Guardian claimed Mayor Philip Amicone wrongly took the copies after the paper ran articles critical of him.

The jury also found Wednesday that the paper did not defame Amicone when it reported on the eve of the 2007 mayoral election that he had visited a strip club.

Amicone’s spokesman, David Simpson, says the mayor is disappointed by the verdict, and has never been to a strip club.

The club is owned by the paper’s publisher, Sam Zherka.

The lawsuit said news racks and copies of the paper were illegally seized by city employees.

The paper hailed the verdict as a victory for First Amendment rights.