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New York (NY Times) – State Senator John L. Sampson was convicted on Friday of trying to thwart a federal investigation, becoming the latest New York lawmaker to face a prison sentence.Guilty: John SampsonHe was found guilty of three of nine charges, the most serious of which, obstructing justice, carries a maximum term of 10 years. He was acquitted of charges carrying sentences of up to 20 years.Sampson, who has roots in Guyana, and who previously served as the Democratic leader in the Senate, was also found guilty on two charges of making false statements. The jury in Federal District Court in Brooklyn delivered its verdict after six days of deliberations.As a result of his felony conviction, Sampson immediately lost his seat in the Legislature. He is the second state senator to be found guilty this week, after Thomas W. Libous, a Republican,cheap nfl jerseys, was convicted on Wednesday and forfeited his seat.During the three-week trial, federal prosecutors argued that Sampson, 50, of Brooklyn, had embezzled state funds when he was appointed to oversee the sales of properties in foreclosure and then covered up the embezzlement. The embezzlement charges had been thrown out by Judge Dora L. Irizarry, who said the statute of limitations had passed. Prosecutors said on Friday that they would appeal the decision once it was officially issued.The defense argued that the government had entrapped Sampson,Bill Walton College Jersey, and it emphasized that one of his former friends, Guyana-born businessman Edul Ahmad, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors after Mr. AhmadNot credible: Cooperating witness, Ed Ahmadwas charged with mortgage fraud.Ahmad testified that Sampson threatened to silence anyone who was helping investigators. Prosecutors played video and audio recordings of a visibly distraught Mr. Sampson taking a check register that Ahmad indicated could be proof of the embezzlement and putting it in his jacket pocket.Kim O’Meally, the forewoman of the jury, said the defense’s argument that Sampson was entrapped had been persuasive. “Ahmad was getting him to say things when he didn’t want to,” she said. “We felt that was entrapment,” and added that the jury did not find Ahmad credible.Sam Noel, another friend of Sampson, who for 22 years was a paralegal at the United States attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York, was also ensnared in the investigation. Sampson asked Noel to look up information about Mr. Ahmad’s case and any case being pursued against Sampson.Noel testified that he used confidential law enforcement databases to do so. Sampson’s lawyers argued that the senator had never directly asked Mr. Noel to break the law.Though Mr. Noel did not find much information, he was charged with a federal crime, lost his job and described feeling betrayed by Sampson, “a man I view as my brother.”The forewoman,Matt Barkley College Jersey, Ms. O’Meally, said of Noel’s account,Josh Rosen UCLA Jersey, “Although it was an emotional testimony, we really had to listen to all the evidence and take the emotion out of it.”Prosecutors said the embezzlement occurred when Sampson, a lawyer, was a court-appointed referee for foreclosed properties in Brooklyn. Rather than returning the surplus money from the real estate sales to the State Supreme Court, as he was supposed to do, Mr. Sampson kept about $440,Kris Jenkins College Jersey,000, prosecutors said. Sampson set the funds aside for his own use, including to help his unsuccessful bid in 2005 for Brooklyn district attorney.In a proceeding last year,Marcus Allen College Jersey, Sampson’s lawyers did not contest that the embezzlement occurred but said it had taken place so long ago that the statute of limitations had expired.The six counts the jury acquitted Mr. Sampson of included two counts of witness tampering and one count each of conspiracy to obstruct justice, evidence tampering, concealing records and making a false statement.Federal guidelines suggest a prison sentence of “north of 10 years,” said Kelly T. Currie, the acting United States attorney for the Eastern District.Nathaniel H. Akerman, one of Sampson’s lawyers, said, “We are going to pursue all of our legal rights in this case until Mr. Sampson is finally vindicated.”Akerman added that the jury verdict showed that at no point “did he ever use his office to benefit himself.”After the verdict, prosecutors asked that Sampson, who has been free on bail, be jailed immediately.“He is unable to obey rules, regulations and laws,nfl jerseys cheap,” Alexander Solomon, a federal prosecutor, said, adding that throughout the trial, Sampson had parked in no-parking spaces outside the courthouse using his Senate placard, “indicating he’s on official business.”Akerman responded that Mr. Sampson had been on time to all of his court appearances and that his family had watched the entire trial, indicating he was not a flight risk. Judge Irizarry denied the prosecution’s request.