Jurors reached a verdict Friday in the trial of Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Trump who was charged with lying to Congress and witness tampering. And the verdict is: guilty on all counts, per USA Today, which calls the development a "remarkable downfall for the longtime fixture in GOP politics." Per the AP, the verdict came two hours after the jury began its second day of deliberations, and after eight hours of deliberation in total. Sentencing was scheduled for Feb. 6, and the 67-year-old could face up to 20 years in prison. Stone was indicted in January as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election tampering. Prosecutors alleged he lied to lawmakers about WikiLeaks, tampered with witnesses, and obstructed a House intelligence committee probe.
The verdict was reached by a jury of nine women and three men. Stone's trial highlighted how Trump campaign associates were eager to gather information about emails the US says were hacked by Russia and then provided to WikiLeaks. Stone was regarded as an "access point" to WikiLeaks and frequently boasted of having insider access to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. He has long denied the allegations. USA Today notes the trial comes to a close after a week "marked with Nixon quotes, references to the Mafia movie The Godfather, and a colorful witness who offered to do a Bernie Sanders impression before an unamused federal judge."
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