A Texas jury deliberated for about three hours Wednesday before finding a North Idaho state representative and sheriff’s candidate guilty of conspiring to defraud the government.

Rep. John Green faces up to five years in prison. Sentencing will be at a later date.

Green was indicted by the U.S. government in 2018 in Texas for his part in helping co-defendants Thomas and Michelle Selgas evade paying taxes. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A spokesperson for the Department of Justice said Green and co-defendant Thomas Selgas were found guilty on all counts by a jury at the U.S. Court in the Northern District of Texas, where the week-long trial was held. Michelle Selgas was acquitted.

Green, of Rathdrum, is in his first term representing District 2 House seat B. He is also a Kootenai County sheriff’s candidate and an attorney licensed to practice in Texas.

According to evidence presented at trial, Selgas conspired with Green to defraud the government by obstructing the IRS from assessing and collecting Selgas’s taxes. Selgas and his wife owed approximately $1.1 million in outstanding taxes that Selgas refused to pay, according to prosecutors. When the IRS tried collecting the outstanding taxes, Selgas turned to Green, who concealed funds in his lawyer trust account.

According to prosecutors, Green maintained several lawyer-client accounts as part of the alleged tax evasion scheme. He was also accused of filing a false tax return.

Green, who hasn’t voluntarily filed a tax return since 2000, according to court records, paid the Selgases’ personal expenses, including their credit card bills, from that account to mask their financial transactions.

In the decade leading up to 2017, Thomas Selgas deposited proceeds from the sale of gold coins and other income into Green’s account, court records state. Selgas and Green also filed a false tax return on behalf of a company they founded called MyMail, Ltd., an intellectual property development and licensing partnership, which helped omit a substantial portion of the partnership’s income.

In a last-minute motion last week, Green asked the court to compel testimony from Don Gary, a Spokane attorney and former tax preparer who invoked his right against self incrimination. Gary opted to not testify on Green’s behalf. According to court records, Gary filed at least one amended tax return for Green and the Selgases.

Government attorneys argued, and the court agreed, that Gary could invoke his privilege because no law bars him from it.

Lawyers rested their case Tuesday and closing arguments were Wednesday before the jury deliberated for several hours and rendered a verdict around 3 p.m. Dallas time.

Tim Kastning of Rathdrum was sworn in last week in Boise to temporarily fill in for Green during the legislative session. Kastning, the retired owner of Grace Tree Service, is a former aide to Congressman Russ Fulcher.

According to Idaho statute, anyone convicted of a felony is prohibited from running for office. Sitting legislators are replaced after precinct committee members from their party send the names of three potential replacements to the governor, who chooses a replacement. Green will be subject to the process.

In addition to a maximum five-year prison term, Green also faces a period of supervised release, restitution and monetary penalties, according to court records.