By LAURA ITALIANO, DAREH GREGORIAN and CLEMENTE LISI
Brooke Astor's son Anthony Marshall was found guilty today by a Manhattan jury of plundering his mother's fortune to the tune of more than $60 million. The jury assembled in Manhattan Supreme Court convicted Marshall of 16 out of the 18 counts against him, including conspiracy and scheming to defraud.
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PHOTOS: THE ASTOR TRIAL
The verdict included conviciton of the top charge against him -- first-degree grand larceny, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 25 years -- for using his power of attorney to award himself a $1.4 million retroactive salary increase out of his mother's fortune.
It clears him, however, of a second first-degree grand larceny charging he swindled his mother into thinking she was broke so he could sell her favorite painting for $10 million and pocket a $2 million commission.
“I’m
stunned by the verdict,” said Marshall’s lawyer Frederick Hafetz. “We are greatly disappointed in it, and we will definitely appeal."Marshall, 85, will be sentenced on Dec. 8.
His co-defendant, estates lawyer Francis Morrissey, was convicted of forgery and conspiracy. He faces up to seven years behind bars.
Marshall, a decorated Marine and former ambassador to Kenya, remained stoic as his fate was revealed.
But his younger wife of 20 years, Charlene -- who prosecutors blamed for goading her husband into wresting the extra cash from his mother -- trembled visibly throughout the reading of the 18-count verdict.
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