VIDEO: Sen. Stevens Guilty Of Corruption Charges

The 12-member jury unanimously returned a verdict of guilty on all seven counts against Stevens, 84.

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was found guilty on Monday on corruption charges, a verdict that could endanger the powerful Republican's political future and help Democrats expand their control of the Senate in the Nov. 4 election.

Stevens, 84, was found guilty on all seven counts of lying on Senate disclosure forms by failing to report more than $250,000 in home renovations and other gifts from an oil-industry executive.

Stevens, who had maintained his innocence, declined to comment when he left the courthouse.

He faces up to five years in prison on each of the seven counts, but under federal sentencing guidelines he would likely receive much less prison time or just get probation.

A member of the Senate for 40 years, Stevens was a popular figure in Alaska before the trial but is now locked in a tight re-election battle with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

The loss of Stevens' seat could help Democrats control 60 seats in the 100-seat chamber, enough to overcome potential Republican roadblocks.

He was the first sitting senator to go on trial since 1981, when New Jersey Democrat Harrison Williams was convicted for bribery.

Stevens is known for his proposed "Bridge to Nowhere," which became a symbol of government waste. The now-abandoned project would have linked the town of Ketchikan to its airport on nearby Gravina Island, population 50, at a cost of $398 million.

At the trial, prosecutors said Bill Allen, the former head of oil-services firm VECO Corp., provided extensive home renovations for Stevens' house in the ski-resort town of Girdwood, near Anchorage.

Allen and others also provided gifts including a $2,700 massage chair, a $29,000 fish sculpture, stained-glass artwork, a gas grill and furniture.

Stevens denied the charges and called his former friend a liar. He said his wife, who had overseen the renovations, thought she had paid for them. He said the massage chair and other items were either unwanted or loaned, not given, to him.

Allen has pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska legislators, and he cooperated with prosecutors in the Stevens case with the hopes of getting a reduced sentence.