Milton Street verdict is mixed

The jury in the federal trial of T. Milton Street Sr. rendered its verdict today, convicting him of three counts of tax evasion for failing to file returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004; acquitting him on four counts of mail and wire fraud; and deadlocking on two charges that he filed false returns in 2000 and 2001.

Codefendant John H. Velardi Sr. was acquitted on three counts of wire and mail fraud.

The jury, which was drawn from nine counties, as far west as Lancaster and as far north as the Lehigh Valley, deliberated for nearly three days.

Street, the brother of former Philadelphia Mayor John Street, sat stone-faced as the verdicts were read.

Sentencing was scheduled for May 22. Under sentencing guidelines, Street faces 27 to 33 months in prison.

"This has been a long, exhausting, humbling experience. But I'm satisfied with the verdict," Street said as the courtroom cleared.

Jurors left together after the decision was announced and made no comment.

The 2006 indictment alleged that Street, 68, of Moorestown, a well-known food vendor and former Pennsylvania state legislator, failed to pay taxes on $2 million in consulting fees that prosecutors say he earned between 2000 and 2004 by trading on his brother's election as mayor. He was also charged with not filing tax returns in 2002, 2003 and 2004.

In addition to the tax charges against him, Street and Velardi, 54, of Media, director of a city contractor working at Philadelphia International Airport, were charged with wire and mail fraud in an alleged 2003 scheme to defraud a Vietnamese immigrant businessman.

Street, allegedly aided by Velardi, is charged with cheating $80,000 from Thanh Nguyen by selling him the rights to a $3.2 million airport maintenance subcontract that prosecutors say Street and Velardi knew did not exist.