Two top ranking members of the Church of Scientology were convicted of charges they aided and abetted other church members in burglaries of government offices.
A federal jury returned the guilty verdicts against Jan Kember and Morris Budlong after deliberating for six hours at the close of a four-week trial.
Kember and Budlong, who work out of the church's headquarters in East Grinstead, England, and were extradited to face the nine-count indictment, stood silently and did not react.
Each faces up to 15 years in jail on each count. U.S. District Judge Aubrey Robinson set sentencing for December 19.
Kember, a British citizen, and Budlong, an American who has been living in England, were among 11 church officials indicted in 1978 on charges of a sweeping conspiracy to plant church spies in government agencies, break into government offices and bug at least one IRS meeting.
Mary Sue Hubbard, the wife of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and eight others were convicted in October 1979 of a single conspiracy charge arising from the alleged burglary scheme and were sentenced to various jail terms. Their convictions are being appealed.
But the case against Kember and Budlong was delayed while Justice Department officials sought their extradition from Britain.
Kember and Budlong declined to talk to reporters after the verdict was returned yesterday, but a church spokesman handed out copies of a statement calling the case "an obvious vendetta."
"These defendants were prosecuted only because they challenged and sought to expose the IRS's unconstitutional activities ranging from false dossiers and intimidation to secret enemies lists," the statement said.
"They were prosecuted because they fought back. The real motivation behind the government's case will ultimately come out and we're confident that these convictions will be overturned."
During their four-week trial, lawyers for Kember and Budlong maintained their clients were 3,000 miles away when the alleged offenses occurred in 1976.
The government introduced into evidence 270 documents seized by the FBI in raids on church headquarters in Los Angeles. Lawyer G. Raymond Banoun argued they showed Kember and Budlong were directing the scheme from the church's worldwide headquarters in England.
In closing arguments to the jury Banoun said, "They tried to hide behind the Atlantic Ocean. It didn't work and the reason it didn't work was these documents."
The church has acknowledged some activities to obtain government documents, but said they were needed to defend itself against 30 years of harassment by federal agencies. Prosecutors have contended the church was trying to get inside information on investigations of its tax-exempt status and other legal matters.
