A federal jury has rejected Atlanta lawyer Nathan Hardwick IV's defense that the $26 million he took from his now-bankrupt, residential real estate closing firm, Morris Hardwick Schneider, were funds he thought legitimately due to him as the majority owner.

The 12 jurors convicted him on Friday of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 21 counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements to federally insured banks.

Jurors deliberated for nine hours over two days after 12 days of witness testimony in the embezzlement trial, held in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. There were two African-American men, seven African-American women and three white men on the jury. None was available for comment.