After 10 days of deliberations in one of the most closely watched Washington trials in recent memory, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby Jr. was found guilty of lying to FBI agents and grand jurors about how he learned the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame.

In a verdict that experts said would very likely bring Libby prison time, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney was convicted on a felony count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury and one of giving false statements to the FBI. He was found not guilty of another count of making false statements. Libby was fingerprinted, photographed and released on his own recognizance following the reading of the verdict, during which he blinked "emphatically" and showed little emotion, according to a CNN report.

Though the trial centered on whether Libby lied to investigators regarding his conversations with reporters about former CIA operative Valerie Plame (see "Dick Cheney Aide 'Scooter' Libby Indicted In CIA Leak Case, Submits Resignation"), he was never accused of outing Plame, which is a much more serious crime.

Libby, 56, did not take the stand in his defense, but his lawyers presented him as a man who was overwhelmed with his responsibilities. In their closing arguments, Libby's attorneys said that any misstatements he made to investigators were a result of poor memory, not an attempt to intentionally deceive them about how he first heard Plame's name in conversations with several journalists.

During the trial, prosecutors contended that Libby lied about how he learned Plame's identity as part of an effort to cover up his role in the leak. Libby said in sworn testimony that he learned of the CIA operative's identity in a conversation with NBC News' Tim Russert, who testified that he did not discuss Plame in a conversation with Libby.

Plame is married to former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, who was sent by the CIA to the African country of Niger in 2002 to investigate reports that Iraq was trying to buy nuclear materials from the nation. Wilson found the reports to be false and after the Iraq war began he publicly accused President Bush in a New York Times editorial of distorting his findings to justify the invasion.

Prosecutors contended that Libby was part of a White House effort to leak Plame's identity to discredit Wilson by implying that he was sent to Niger because of his wife's position at the CIA.

The 12 jurors heard from 19 witnesses during the five-week trial, a number of whom contradicted Libby's grand-jury testimony about how and when he first learned of Plame's identity; one juror was dismissed after she admitted to hearing some outside reports about the trial.

The verdict came on the 10th day of deliberations and one day after the jury asked U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton a series of questions related to what Libby told the FBI about his 2003 phone conversation with Time magazine reporter Matt Cooper about Plame. It is believed that the jury's uncertainty about whether the evidence proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Libby made false statements to the FBI about his conversations with Cooper resulted in the not guilty verdict on that count.

The five charges against Libby carried a combined top penalty of 30 years in prison.

The most serious charge, obstruction of justice, carries a 10-year maximum penalty. Libby was found guilty of intentionally misleading the grand jury investigating the leak of Plame's identity by lying about how he learned Plame's identity and how he related it to reporters including Cooper and Russert.

One perjury count charged Libby with making false statements to FBI agents about his conversations with Russert, in which Libby claimed he first heard Plame's name from the veteran journalist. The second perjury count charged Libby with lying to a grand jury, while under oath, about his conversations with Cooper.

President Bush was "saddened" for Libby and his wife, according to a White House statement obtained by CNN. Cheney would not comment on the verdict, but Libby's lawyer, Ted Wells, addressed the media shortly after the verdict was read and promised to clear his client's name. Standing next to a silent, smiling Libby, Wells said, "We are very disappointed in the verdict of the jurors. ... Despite our disappointment in the jury's verdict, we believe in the American justice system and we believe in the jury system." Wells said he intends to file a motion for a new trial, and if that is denied he will appeal the conviction.