ROANOKE, Va. – A jury found a Roanoke City councilman guilty of two felony charges on Tuesday.
Robert Jeffrey Jr. was on trial for two counts of obtaining money under false pretenses of more than $1,000 from CARES Act money.
Tuesday wrapped up his two-day trial on the two crimes, which began on Monday.
The jury reached that unanimous verdict in just 25 minutes.
The Commonwealth worked hard to prove Jeffrey lied about his business dealings to the Roanoke Economic Development office, getting away with $15,000.
Those lies allowed him to do what the money intended — pay his employees. It also allowed for nefarious purchases like GrubHub, Victoria’s Secret and child support, bank statements showed.
Attorney Jonathan Kurtain tried to build space around his client by questioning his involvement altogether, highlighting the missteps of others unknowingly involved and blaming a former employee who is a felon, convicted for money crimes as well.
Following the reading of the verdict, Jeffrey was taken into custody.
The judge expects sentencing to take place in eight to 10 weeks.
He could face up to 20 years for both counts.
He still has to stand trial on two counts of felony embezzlement.
It was decided by all parties that Jeffrey would be tried separately. His trial on embezzlement will begin immediately after the first one.
Below is 10 News’ coverage from day one of the trial: