The verdict is in. Trump Organization guilty on all charges !

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The verdict is in. Trump Organization guilty on all charges ! NEW YORK - A Manhattan jury on Tuesday convicted two of former President Donald Trump's companies on all charges in an criminal tax fraud scheme, adding a new complication to the many investigations and legal matters shadowing his third presidential campaign. The Trump Corporation was found guilty on all of nine criminal counts and the Trump Payroll Corporation was found guilty on all of eight criminal counts. The companies face criminal penalties of up to $1.6 million. The trial judge, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan, said after the verdict that the companies would be sentenced on January 13. Defense attorney Allen Futerfas told USA TODAY he was "sure" the verdict would be appealed, adding to the many active cases and investigations involving Trump. Trump was not charged in the case, and did not appear in the courtroom during the trial. Defense lawyer Susan Necheles said trial evidence showed Trump was not involved. However, the former president criticized the prosecution in a late November social media post. The jury of eight women and four men returned the verdict after two days of deliberations in the trial focused on thousands of dollars in off-the-books perks, such as company-paid apartments and luxury cars the companies handed to top executives who routinely failed to report the income on tax returns. The trial also featured a legal clash over a difficult-to-parse New York state penal law that prescribes the standards prosecutors must meet to obtain criminal convictions of corporations. The outcome capped a trial that began in late October and was marked by a COVID-19 delay, at times testy legal arguments plus an unsuccessful defense move for a mistrial when a prosecutor asserted that Trump had "explicitly" sanctioned the tax fraud scheme. Jurors selected for the trial, some of whom said they had strong feelings about Trump, told Merchan and opposing legal teams early in the case that they would set those sentiments aside, decide the case on the evidence and be fair and impartial.