Verdict Reached In Sharpe James Trial: UPDATE- Convicted

The disgraced former Mayor of Newark New Jersey will be facing the music later today as the jury has reached a verdict after 5 days and more than 30 hours of deliberations. The Democrat is accused of defrauding taxpayers by pushing deals to his mistress, who is also on trial:

Jurors have reached a verdict in the federal corruption trial of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James. It will be announced within the hour.

The panel has been deliberating in federal court in Newark since April 9 on fraud and conspiracy charges against James and his onetime girlfriend, Tamika Riley. A few minutes ago, they informed the staff of U.S. District Judge William Martini that they had reached a decision.

James is accused of defrauding the city's taxpayers by rigging the sale of nine city lots to Riley between 2001 and 2005. Riley, a 39-year-old publicist from Jersey City with no development experience, bought the parcels for $46,000 and resold them, sometimes just weeks later, for $665,000. Prosecutors said James used his influence to help Riley steer through the city development process, and never disclosed his relationship when he signed the contracts to sell her the land.

"This is a case about betrayal," Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Germano told jurors during her closing argument.

James, 72, who served five terms as mayor and two as state senator, has denied any wrongdoing. His attorneys have argued that Riley got the same treatment as other developers and that the city council - not the mayor - has the ultimate authority in city land deals.

UPDATE:
Call James a convicted felon. That's the jury's verdict:

A federal jury today convicted former Newark Mayor Sharpe James of fraud for conspiring to rig the sale of nine city lots to his mistress, who quickly resold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit.

Ending a five-week trial, the jury returned its verdict in a courtroom just a block from the City Hall office that James occupied for two decades. On its sixth day of deliberations, the jury found James guilty of all counts in the 13-count indictment.

James' co-defendant and former girlfriend, Tamika Riley, was also found guilty on all counts.

Under federal guidelines, James and Riley could each face several years in prison. U.S. District Judge William Martini allowed both to remain free on bail until sentencing, which was set for July 29 at 10 a.m.

The article finally gets around to mentioning that James was a Democrat towards the end of the report. Not awful, but not great either. Had James been a Republican, I suspect that his party affiliation would have received stronger billing.