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VIRGINIA, U.S. – In what was the first trial resulting from the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. Presidential election – longtime political operative, Paul Manafort was found guilty of financial crimes.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump’s former campaign chair, Manafort was convicted by a federal jury in Virginia on eight counts of financial crimes.

Faced with an 18-count indictment announced by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election, Manafort was found guilty of eight counts of financial crimes, including bank fraud, tax fraud and failure to report a foreign bank account.

However, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on ten counts, prompting the judge to declare a partial mistrial.

Manafort’s conviction, which capped an explosive trial that last three weeks, came after the fourth day of jury deliberation.

At the Federal Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon, 69-year-old Manafort sat expressionless as he was found guilty of filing a false tax return in each of the years from 2010 through 2014.

He was also found guilty of not filing a form to report a foreign bank account as required in 2012. 

Manafort was also convicted of two different instances of bank fraud, related to a $3.4 million loan from Citizens Bank and a $1 million loan from Banc of California.

However, the jury was reportedly deadlocked on charges related to three counts for not filing a form to report a foreign bank account, and seven for committing bank fraud or conspiring to commit bank fraud.

As the verdict was read out, with the word ‘guilty’ being repeated eight times by the clerk, Manafort displayed no emotion, and his wife, Kathleen Manafort too remained stoic.

Following this, Judge T.S. Ellis asked the jurors if they wanted to keep their names confidential and after the group responded in the affirmative, the judge said he would keep their names under seal.

After the jury comprising of six women and men was dismissed, Judge Ellis asked Manafort to approach the lectern and told him that he would be ordering a pre-sentencing report, pointed out that it was important for Manafort to “pay careful attention to the preparation of the document.” 

With each count carrying a hefty prison term, Manafort could theoretically live out the remainder of his years in prison – however, it is likely that the jail time will be reduced at sentencing. 

As of now, experts noted that when combined, Manafort is facing a maximum of 80 years behind bars.

As he was leaving the court on Tuesday afternoon, Manafort’s lead counsel, Kevin Downing, told reporters that his client was “disappointed” and “weighing his options.”

All that glitters…

For two weeks since the trial started, the court witnessed wide-ranging and often dramatic testimony prompted by Mueller’s prosecutors.

Prosecutors used the first week to map out all the charges against Manafort and followed that up with testimonies from some of Manafort’s closest financial associates, including his longtime bookkeeper and accountants. 

Manafort, who is the defendant in two criminal indictments brought by Mueller, was battling the indictment that charges him with tax fraud, bank fraud, and failure to report foreign bank accounts. 

Prosecutors opened with the allegations that Manafort hid at least $16 million in income from the IRS between 2010 and 2014 and disguised the millions he made from his work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party as loans, hiding it in foreign banks. 

They further alleged that after his money in Ukraine dried up, Manafort defrauded banks by lying about his income on loan applications and concealing other financial information, such as mortgages.

To back their claims, prosecutors presented witnesses, who depicted Manafort as splurging millions of dollars hidden in offshore accounts to fund a luxurious lifestyle.

Witnesses also testified about how the former Trump campaign chairman obtained millions in bank loans, under false pretenses. 

The defense meanwhile, focussed a large part of its efforts on the explosive testimony by Manafort’s former business partner and political operative, Rick Gates.

Manafort’s codefendant, Gates had struck a plea deal with prosecutors in February this year, after pleading guilty to lying to investigators and to a conspiracy charge.

Then, earlier this year, he agreed to cooperate with investigators and in this trails, Gates was presented as Mueller’s star witness.

Gates testified that he and Manafort committed financial crimes together for years. 

However, defense attorneys sought to undermine his testimony by calling Gates a liar, philanderer and embezzler.

Then, on the 11th day of the trail, Manafort’s attorneys made a tactical decision and announced that they were resting their case without presenting any evidence or witnesses.

In a court filing made in February, prosecutors had pointed out that based on the level of the offense and his criminal history, Manafort could face up to ten years in prison for tax fraud alone.

Moderate, but a victory nonetheless

Manafort’s conviction marked the first major prosecution won by Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Since being appointed as the special counsel to lead the probe in May 2017, Mueller has charged 32 people and secured five guilty pleas.

The current trial did not delve into the main focus of that probe, which is whether Trump associates coordinated with Russia to influence the election.

Yet, the conviction is a significant victory for Mueller and his team of prosecutors, since Manafort was a prominent part of Trump’s inner circle and ran the then-candidate’s campaign for a crucial five-month period in 2016 – at a time when the alleged Russian collusion was being plotted or had already begun. 

The conviction is also strengthening Mueller’s hand, even as he continues to face frequent and increasingly personal criticism by the U.S. President, his legal team and the White House. 

Trump, who has labelled Mueller’s investigation the “biggest witch hunt in the country” and has more recently slammed the special counsel’s team of “Angry Democrat thugs” as a “national disgrace,” has made his attacks more frequent since Manafort’s verdict started three weeks back.

Amid Trump’s increasing partisan attacks on the investigation’s integrity, to a large extent, Tuesday’s verdict vindicates the ability of Mueller’s team to secure convictions from a jury of average citizens.

It comes at a time when Mueller continues to investigate possible conspiracy and seeks an interview with the president himself.

Following his conviction, Manafort managed to earn Trump’s sympathy.

The President, who previously suggested that Manafort was being treated worse than American gangster Al Capone, described his former campaign manager as a “good man” on Tuesday.

As he arrived in West Virginia for a rally, Trump started by clarifying to reporters that Manafort’s conviction “has nothing to do with Russian collusion.”

Commenting on his former campaign manager’s crimes, Trump said, “It doesn’t involve me.”

However, the President added, “I feel very sad about that,” and again denounced the Mueller investigation as a “witch hunt.”

The verdict on Tuesday came immediately after the country witnessed another high profile legal case unravelling – involving another of the President’s former aides – Michael Cohen. 

Trump’s fiercely loyal former attorney, Cohen, who had been facing a criminal investigation on suspicion of bank fraud, wire fraud, election law violations and possible campaign finance violation through hush money payments to two women on behalf of Trump – struck a plea deal with federal prosecutors in New York City on Tuesday. 

Cohen pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to eight counts including fraud and campaign finance violations – but more importantly, he is believed to have possibly implicated Trump, by pleading guilty to violating campaign finance law and insisting in court that he did so “at the direction” of a candidate, which is bound to be Trump.

Meanwhile, Manafort is set to face additional charges in a separate case, to convene in Washington DC next month.