A federal jury on Friday convicted James M. Schneider, 77, a securities lawyer from Boca Raton, of 33 counts of conspiracy, securities and wire fraud following a two-week trial in the Southern District of Florida, where it heard evidence the lawyer registered fraudulent shell companies with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Schneider took part in a “pump-and-dump” scheme between 2008 and 2015, which involved the manipulation of shares in 20 shell companies. Schneider wrote fake opinion letters claiming nonaffiliates owned the companies, when, in fact, they were owned by his co-conspirators whom he wired more than $5.6 million in profits, according to court documents.