Political consultant John Haggerty was found guilty today of stealing money from the re-election campaign of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Our NY1 colleauge Grace Rauh reports that a jury this morning found Haggerty guilty of second-degree grand larceny and second-degree money laundering. UPDATE: Haggerty’s lawyer and onetime boss, former state AG Dennis Vacco, expressed disappointment with the verdict and said he will appeal.

The Queens GOP operative’s company, Special Elections Operations, was found guilty of second-degree money laundering. The maximum sentence is up to 15 years for each charge, but Haggerty will likely be sentenced concurrently. He was aquitted of a first-degree grand larceny charge, which carried the more serious penalty of up to 25 years in prison.

Today was the third day the case in which the 42-year-old Haggerty was accused of stealing more than $1 million from Bloomberg had gone to the jury.

Haggerty was accused of arranging to funnel $1.2 million of Bloomberg’s money through the Independence Party in order to bolster ballot security. Prosecutors said that $1.1 million was used by Haggerty in order to purchase his father’s home in Queens.

The case also shined light on the operations of Bloomberg’s administration and staff, and required the mayor himself to testify on the inner workings of the campaign.

And the case is a big victory for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, who has withstood a string of high-profile defeats in recent months.

The guilty verdicts are also something of a surprise after the jury sent a note yesterday to the judge asking if there was a “victim” in the case. The wronged party, prosecutors contend, was Bloomberg.

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