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Jury Finds McDonnell, Wife Guilty In Corruption Case

Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, have been found guilty of several corruption charges for accepting gifts and bribes.
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A jury has ruled former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, are guilty of public corruption and could potentially face decades in prison.

Bob McDonnell was convicted on 11 counts of corruption, and Maureen McDonnell was found guilty of eight.

The jury ruled the McDonnells accepted more than $170,000 in gifts and loans from Jonnie Williams, the CEO of a dietary supplement company, in exchange for political favors, including the promotion of one of the company's products.

The gifts included Williams lending the former governor his Ferrari, buying $20,000 in clothes for his wife, spending $15,000 for his daughter's wedding reception and much more. 

During pretrial proceedings, WUSA reports the McDonnells presented a united front and walked into the courtroom hand in hand.

But by the time the actual trial began, the defense had formulated an argument claiming the McDonnells' marriage was so fractured, they could not have conspired in the manner they were accused of.

Politico reports the argument essentially threw Maureen under the bus and portrayed her as "demanding, irrational and possibly mentally ill."

NBC quotes a defense lawyer who said Maureen was "gaga" for Williams and showed an anguished email from the former governor to his wife over the state of their marriage.

But the government gave an immunity deal to Williams, which turned him into its star witness. The New York Times said: "His version of conversations he had with the McDonnells seemed to dot the I's and cross the T's on the legal definition of a corrupt, quid pro quo deal."

The McDonnells' sentencing is set for Jan. 6.

This video includes images from Getty Images / Mark Wilson