Former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen have been found guilty of public corruption for using his office to promote a businessman's product in return for gifts, holidays and cash.
A federal jury in Richmond, Virginia found Mr McDonnell guilty of 11 corruption-related charges and his wife guilty of nine charges, including obstruction of justice, for receiving $177,000 in gifts and cash from businessman Jonnie Williams who ran dietary supplements maker Star Scientific.
Mr McDonnell was the first governor in Virginia's history to be charged with a crime that casts a cloud over a public office once held by the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson.
The five-week trial attracted national interest as McDonnell had been a rising star within the Republican Party and was considered a potential running mate for presidential candidate Mitt Romney in 2012.
The couple now face jail time and heavy penalties. Mr McDonnell covered his face in court and dropped his head to the table as the verdicts were read out, according to a report in the New York Times, while his wife looked straight ahead.
The couple had tried to defend their actions by portraying the marriage as broken, claiming that they could not have conspired to use the office of governor to help the businessman as they were barely speaking.
Mr McDonnell, one of 67 witnesses, took the stand in his defence, testifying for almost 24 hours over several days. He was portrayed as man left “spiritually and mentally exhausted” by his wife’s yelling.
The trial offered all the drama of a soap opera as titillating detail of the couple’s faltering marriage, financial difficulties and opulent lifestyle, funded by the businessman, were disclosed in public.
Personalised golf gear
The gifts lavished on Virginia’s first couple by Mr Williams included personalised golf gear, a $20,000 shopping spree in New York for Mrs McDonnell, $15,000 worth of catering at their daughter’s wedding, a Rolex watch for the governor and loans to repay credit card debt. Evidence of text messages sent between Mr McDonnell, who was governor from 2010 until he stood down in January, and Mr Williams showed that the businessman readily provided money to the governor.
Defence lawyers argued that Mrs McDonnell masterminded the deal with Mr Williams who sought to use the prestige of the governor’s office to promote his dietary supplement Anatabloc. Her husband was not involved in the day-to-day dealings, they claimed, while Mrs McDonnell was said to have a “crush” on the businessman.
The government dismissed the McDonnells’ defence strategy with prosecutor Michael Dry telling the court in closing statements that the former governor was attempting to “throw his wife under the bus”.
