WARWICK � Deputy sheriffs Wednesday led former state Sen. Patrick Timothy McDonald away in handcuffs minutes after a Superior Court jury found him guilty of conspiring with his former paralegal and mistress to embezzle more than $160,000 from clients

WARWICK � Deputy sheriffs Wednesday led former state Sen. Patrick Timothy McDonald away in handcuffs minutes after a Superior Court jury found him guilty of conspiring with his former paralegal and mistress to embezzle more than $160,000 from clients of his law practice.

A jury of six men and six women deliberated about two hours before finding McDonald, 49, of 56 Meadowrue Trail, Saunderstown, guilty of three counts of embezzlement and one of conspiring with Kimberly Gostomski, who now goes by the last name Porter. He faces up to 20 years in prison on each embezzlement count.

The jury acquitted McDonald of two other embezzlement charges dating to June 2007.

McDonald showed little expression as the verdict was read, but looked more grim as the minutes passed. His wife, Kristen, began shaking uncontrollably and was comforted by a clerk.

Judge Brian P. Stern ordered McDonald held without bail as a flight risk as he awaits sentencing. Stern said he shared Assistant Attorney General Ronald Gendron�s concerns that McDonald had incentive to flee after his conviction.

McDonald�s lawyer, former House Speaker William J. Murphy, said the case would be appealed.

�Obviously Mr. McDonald is disappointed. It�s a tough loss for him,� Murphy said, adding, �Mr. McDonald has many good years before him.�

He had asked that McDonald be allowed to remain free as a first-time criminal offender and lifelong Rhode Island resident with four children and a wife. Norman L. Landroche Jr., also a former state legislator, served as co-counsel.

Gendron said afterward that the split verdict reflected the evidence. Porter told jurors that she had made a mistake by failing to deduct money for real estate taxes in the transactions linked to the two counts that ended with acquittals.

�I agree with the verdict,� Gendron said.

In convicting McDonald, the jury rejected his assertion that Porter, a three-time convicted felon, was responsible for any misspent money. McDonald had a drinking problem at the time and was not aware of her misdealing, Murphy said. He implored the jury not to believe her.

�Was he negligent? Yes. Is negligence criminal? No,� Murphy said.

Porter told jurors about McDonald hiring her at his Warwick law firm in 2007, months after they started an affair. She described money flowing freely between a bank account dedicated solely to client money and the firm�s operating account that McDonald used to pay his mortgage, car payments and for frequent outings to bars and restaurants. She routinely signed his name to checks and he partially paid for her apartment in Wakefield.

She described McDonald continuing his excessive spending even as the real estate market began to slump and business died down. He told her to continue real estate closings even after a title insurance company revoked his ability to perform them, she said.

Lori Tellier, a civilian investigator with the state police, detailed for jurors $245,000 in spending by McDonald from the firm�s operating account from June 2007 through September 2008. Records revealed McDonald spent $18,000 on bars and restaurants and $2,600 on hotels.

In addition, McDonald made $87,000 in ATM withdrawals as well as $13,000 in car payments and $30,000 in mortgage payments from that account during the same period, she said. Another $9,600 went toward entertainment, with $8,600 spent on clothing.

�He wants you to believe Kim Gostomski did everything,� Gendron said in his closing argument. McDonald, he said, was fully aware and the pair had a �tacit understanding� of how money should be moved between the accounts. �His spending habits show he knew,� he said.

In the end, the jury convicted McDonald of conspiring with Porter to pocket more than $160,000 from three real estate transactions. Two of those deals left his clients� loans unpaid.

Porter in 2012 pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiring with McDonald, aiding and abetting him, and counterfeiting a document that was then used to secure a loan. She received a 10-year suspended sentence, and now lives in Savannah, Ga., with her husband and son.

McDonald represented South Kingstown and Narragansett from 1996 through 2002 before being defeated by James C. Sheehan in the then-newly reconfigured District 36. He owes $161,819 in campaign-finance fines dating to 2002, making him the state�s top campaign-finance scofflaw.

The state Supreme Court suspended his law license in October 2008.