ST. PAUL, MN—Late last night, a federal trial jury convicted Thomas Joseph Petters, 53, of Wayzata, Minn., of orchestrating a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme. The verdict followed a month-long trial before U.S. District Court Judge Richard H. Kyle in the U.S. Courthouse in St. Paul, Minn. Specifically, Petters, who was originally indicted in December 2008, was found guilty of 10 counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and five counts of money laundering. According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Petters, aided and abetted by others, defrauded and obtained billions of dollars in money and property by inducing investors to provide PCI funds to purchase merchandise that was to be resold to retailers at a profit. However, no such purchases were made. Instead, the defendants and co-conspirators diverted the funds provided them for other purposes, such as making l...