8 guilty verdicts for former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort

ALEXANDRIA, VA (AP, ABC NEWS, WOLO) – Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort has been found guilty of eight financial crime charges in the first trial victory for special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

This marks the first major prosecution won by special counsel Robert Mueller in his investigation of Russian meddling during the 2016 election.

Each count carries a hefty prison term – when combined, he is facing a maximum of 80 years in prison, but at sentencing the total will likely be less.

A judge declared a mistrial on 10 other counts after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict.

Special counsel Robert Mueller and his team of prosecutors secured an 18-count indictment on tax- and bank-fraud charges against Manafort in February. At trial, the special counsel rested its case after parading more than two dozen accountants and associates of Manafort over the course of two weeks, painting the longtime Republican operative as a man who shielded millions of dollars from American authorities in order to fund his lavish lifestyle.

The jury deliberated for four days before announcing the verdict at the federal courthouse in Alexandria, Virginia.

Prosecutors spent more than two weeks presenting their case as they sought to prove Manafort concealed millions of dollars in offshore accounts from the IRS.