CEDAR RAPIDS - A Mason City couple who made false statements to influence a bank's decision on a mortgage were convicted by a jury on Friday after a four-day trial in federal court in Cedar Rapids.

Meggan J. Alexander, 29, was convicted of one count of making a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a HUD-insured loan and three counts of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan. She was acquitted of one count of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan.

Her husband, David L. Alexander, 33, was convicted of one count of making a false statement to a bank in connection with a loan and acquitted of one count of the same charge.

The verdict was returned Friday following about five hours of jury deliberations.

The evidence at trial showed that Meggan Alexander falsely stated on an application for a $130,000 home loan that she was employed and had no outstanding judgments against her, when in fact she was not employed and had an outstanding judgment against her from a conviction for theft in Black Hawk County.

She defaulted on the loan and sent two letters to the bank in an attempt to prevent foreclosure. In the letters she falsely stated she had been employed at the time she bought the home.