A federal jury found former Virginia governor Robert McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of public corruption, the Washington Post reports. The verdict indicated the jury believed the couple sold the office to a free spending Richmond businessman for golf outings, lavish vacations and $120,000 in sweetheart loans. After three days of deliberations, the seven men and five women who heard weeks of gripping testimony about the McDonnells' alleged misdeeds acquitted the couple of several charges but still found that they lent the prestige of the governor's office to Jonnie R. Williams Sr. in a nefarious exchange for his largesse. “The evidence was overwhelming and staring us in our face,” one juror said.
McDonnell is the first Virginia governor to be convicted of a crime. U.S. District Judge James Spencer set a sentencing hearing for Jan. 6, 2015. The former governor was convicted of 11 corruption-related counts, though acquitted of lying on loan documents. The former first lady was convicted of eight corruption-related charges, along with obstruction of justice. Maureen McDonnell was acquitted of lying on a loan document. The jury's verdict concludes a trial that the Post says seemed to grip the nation with the shocking revelation by defense attorneys that the McDonnells' marriage was shattered, and that would be a core element of their attempt to beat the charges.