Douglas Bruce convicted of tax evasion, faces prison time

A policymaker and perpetual gadfly who spent decades successfully advocating for fewer taxes now faces years in prison for failing to pay his own.

State prosecutors convinced a Denver jury that Douglas Bruce used a small-government charity he founded to hide millions of dollars from the state taxman, pocketing interest and using the funds to further his political agenda.

After four hours of deliberation, jurors Wednesday convicted Bruce on four counts, the most serious of which carries a penalty of up to six years in prison and $500,000 in fines.

Throughout a contentious, eight-day trial, prosecutors presented jurors with a dizzying array of Bruce's unconventional business transactions, loans to himself and land deals that occurred over a five-year period starting in 2004.