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Bobby Thompson composes himself before the verdict reading. (Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – A jury has found Bobby Thompson guilty of stealing from donors to his national charity, the U.S. Navy Veterans Association (USNVA), from 2002-2010.

In a trial that lasted six weeks, covering the testimony of 42 prosecution witnesses, the man whose real name is John Donald Cody was convicted Thursday by a jury of 10 women and two men of 23 charges including theft, money laundering, engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, tampering with records, and identity fraud.

Thompson, who showed up to court limping and looking disheveled and tired, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum that could range upwards of 60 to 70 years. He had no reaction as the verdicts were read and a deputy handcuffed him in court.

Judge Steven Gall is expected to sentence him on Dec. 16, after a pre-sentence investigation.

"It's going to be critically important for you to be honest" with probation officials, Gall told Thompson, who did not look at jurors as they left the courtroom.

Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, whose office prosecuted the case, said, "After weeks of testimony by dozens of prosecution witnesses, the defense rested without calling anyone to the stand because there is no defense for the scam that John Donald Cody pulled on Americans in the name of our country's veterans."

Defense attorney Joseph Patituce said he was "a little disappointed" by the verdict but added that given the time he had to prepare his case (about a month) and limited ability to subpoena witnesses, "I don't think I was real surprised."

Asked whether the verdict might have been different had Thompson testified in his own behalf, Patituce said it "certainly could have influenced the jury."

He added that Thompson's testimony was "a critical part of the way I built the defense."

The verdict caps the latest chapter in the long and mysterious saga of a Harvard graduate, former Army intelligence officer and FBI fugitive who used a stolen identity and a fabricated military history to create a charity ostensibly to aid Navy veterans.

He schmoozed with the nation’s political elite, and had his photo taken with former President George W. Bush and other Republican luminaries who were the recipients of donations from Thompson.

His hired telemarketers collected an estimated $100 million in donations nationwide before his association was exposed as a sham by a St. Petersburg, Fla., newspaper in 2010. The newspaper reported that none of the association’s reported officers existed, state office locations were UPS mailboxes and little money was spent to aid veterans.

After the disclosures, Thompson disappeared for nearly two years until he was tracked down in Portland, Ore., and arrested in 2012 by U.S. marshals from Cleveland. Among his possessions was a suitcase containing nearly $1 million in cash.

The Ohio Attorney General brought charges against Thompson in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, on behalf of Ohio donors who gave more than $2 million to the USNVA.

Initially, Thompson acted as his own attorney, filing a mountain of motions with the court that included claims that he was working as a government or CIA agent while running the USNVA, and saying the charges against him were politically motivated.

He turned over his defense to attorney Joseph Patituce a month before his trial started in October.

Jurors were told by Patituce in his opening statement that “My client did everything he said he was going to do,” and that Thompson would take the stand in his own defense.

But Brad Tammaro, an assistant attorney general prosecuting the case, said the evidence would show that Thompson “is simply a thief, a thief who could not tell the truth.”

A parade of prosecution witnesses followed, painting a portrait of Thompson as a drinker who dressed like a homeless man, who forged multiple fake identification cards with stolen identities, faked signatures and addresses of USNVA offices, and fabricated a slate of association officers and claimed membership.

Jurors were told that Thompson directed telemarketers not to solicit funds in states that required financial audits of charities. The jury also quietly watched as stacks of cash found with Thompson when he was arrested were dumped on a table and displayed in an alluring exhibit of ill-gotten gains.

Through cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, the defense was able to show that telemarketers got upwards of 90 percent of the donations collected, and that there were funds spent by the USNVA on charitable projects.

Patituce also pointed out the USNVA could legally make political donations which met its stated mission of working for legislation to benefit veterans.

But his planned defense fizzled Tuesday when Thompson decided he would not testify, and Patituce subsequently rested his case without calling an witnesses and waived a closing argument on Wednesday.

Thompson's behavior and appearance became erratic in the closing days of the trial. He pounded his head against the walls of a holding cell adjacent to the courtroom and showed up for the trial Tuesday with disheveled hair and clothing. A similar condition on Wednesday prompted an angry Judge Gall to order Thompson to clean up his appearance before the jury was brought in.

Gall later told Thompson that he found those incidents "appalling" and wondered aloud if they were deliberate ploys.

When Thompson is sentenced, this chapter of his saga will be closed. But the book isn't necessarily finished.

Thompson, according to his defense attorney, plans to appeal.

Plain Dealer Reporter John Caniglia contributed to this story.

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