Allen Stanford Guilty on 13 of 14 Counts

As previously reported here, there has been a dearth of media coverage of the Allen Stanford trial in Houston. Following almost 3 days of deliberation Stanford was found guilty on 13 of 14 counts in the indictment. Stanford, 61, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, five counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to obstruct a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation, one count of obstruction of an SEC investigation and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was found not guilty on one count of wire fraud.

The verdict followed a 6 week trial in U.S. District Court before Judge Hittner. Stanford did not testify at trial. On Monday the jury had informed the judge they were having trouble reaching a verdict.

The government accused Stanford of running a Ponzi scheme defrauding investors of more than $7 billion in fraudulent certificates of deposit at the Stanford International Bank in Antigua. As detailed in this article in the New York Times, it took three years to get the case before a jury because Stanford was severely beaten by another inmate while awaiting trial in 2010. He then became addicted to prescription drugs and underwent almost a year of therapy before finally being declared fit to stand trial.

Stanford will in all likelihood face a sentence of life in prison.