[ by Melanie Gretchen ] Allen Stanford was convicted on Tuesday of running a $7 billion Ponzi scheme.  He was found guilty on 13 counts of a 14-count criminal indictment, including fraud, conspiracy and obstructing an investigation by the SEC - the biggest financial fraud since Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in 2009. He was found not guilty on one count of wire fraud. What is Stanford's Verdict Worth? Just one day earlier, the Houston federal jury said it could not reach a verdict.  But U.S. District Judge David Hittner instructed the jurors to keep deliberating.  Stanford, 61, now faces a possible prison sentence of 20 years.  As he was led out of the courtroom after the verdict, he touched his fist to his heart and looked at the bench where his mother and two daughters sat. "For all the investors I think there is a sense of relief that they weren't just fools," said Cassie Wilkinson, a Houston investor in Stanford funds who attended the 6-week trial. "There was a jury of 12 people who found the same thing - that we were just conned."  That said, the verdict may prove only a moral victory for Stanford's victims - most of whom have received none of the money back that they invested in Stanford's certificates of deposit. Trial. Over the course of 6 weeks, prosecutors portrayed how Stanford repeatedly raided his Antigua-based bank, the Stanford International Bank, essentially using it as his "personal ATM."  Among his purchases was a castle in Florida for one of his girlfriends and a million-dollar condominium in Houston for his oldest daughter.  Throughout the scheme's 22-year life, he wore custom-made suits, lived in luxury homes and on a yacht in the Caribbean, and bankrolled a $20 million prize for an international cricket tournament. The guilty verdict did not end the case.  The jury of 8 men and 4 women, including a pawn shop operator and a retired hairdresser, returned to the courtroom on Tuesday afternoon to consider the government's demand that more than $300 million in assets tied to Stanford be forfeited.  The money, which has been frozen, is held in more than 30 bank accounts in Geneva, the U.K., and Canada in the names of Stanford and other entities, according to the government. Key Witness. The government's star witness, former Stanford CFO and college roommate James Davis, testified that he and Stanford faked documents and made up financial reports to appease investors and fool regulators.  They routed millions of dollars from Stanford International Bank to a secret Swiss bank account that Stanford tapped for his personal use, Davis testified.  Davis, 63, pleaded earlier to 3 criminal counts, including fraud and obstruction of justice. The End of the Line. Stanford's lawyers had portrayed their client as a visionary who was not involved in his firm's daily activities.  They, instead, blamed Davis for any fraud, arguing that Stanford's businesses were viable until the government shut down Stanford Financial Group in Houston in February 2009.   Left with no money, Stanford was declared indigent by the court and his defense was paid for with public funds. For further details, go to [Reuters, 3/6/12].