After seven days of deliberations, the jury in the Joe Bruno corruption trial found the former Senate majority leader guilty on two of the eight counts against him. Our Steve Ference followed the case from the beginning and has the details.

  To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

All along, the former Senate majority leader maintained his innocence, saying he was tried using a vague federal law. But jurors disagreed. After seven days, a dozen notes, 56 hours of deliberating, Bruno was found guilty on two of eight counts.

"The legal process is going to continue," he said.

Bruno left court with his spokesman, attorneys and family, a few gasping when they heard the word "guilty" in court. Bruno is now convicted of not properly disclosing potential conflicts of interest and depriving New Yorkers of their right to his honest services while he was Senate majority leader - one of three most powerful state politicians.

The man who became an upstate icon, who resigned from his post in the midst of a three-year FBI investigation, repeatedly argued he had a right to outside part-time work, but jurors found him guilty of getting paid $440,000 from a pair of companies owned by businessman Jared Abbruzzese, even though Abbruzzese's companies looked to secure two $250,000 payments directed by Bruno's office. They also found him guilty of accepting $80,000 from the sale of a worthless horse - money owed after one of Abbruzzese's companies apparently owed him after a contract was prematurely terminated. He was found not guilty on five counts. Jurors simply couldn't agree on another count.

The attorneys and even Joe Bruno himself said little to nothing after the verdict, as we now wait for the judge to decide how much of a financial penalty Bruno will have to pay.

Bruno said, "In my mind and in my heart, it's not over 'til it's over, and I think it's far from over."

Now, the 80-year-old senator and Korean War veteran waits for sentencing, the Capitol and the rest of New York digest the news, and Bruno looks at appeal options.

Bruno's spokesman Kris Thompson issued a statement saying, "As many of us know, Joe Bruno is a fighter. He will battle long and hard to clear his name and reputation. We’ve been cleared on five of the eight counts, with another being declared as a mistrial. We now look forward to the Supreme Court, which tomorrow will begin hearing arguments on the first of three cases that will test this vague and overreaching honest services statute. This was round one. We now await round two."

Federal prosecutors said they take no pleasure from what the trial revealed about the culture of the state Senate under Bruno's leadership. A statement released shortly after Monday's verdict said, "Federal law enforcement in the Northern District of New York will continue to strive to ensure that public officials who breach their public trust will be held accountable, notwithstanding the challenges presented by the state's inadequate legislative ethics and disclosure laws."