The jury in U.S. District Court in Central Islip found the couple, Mahender Sabhnani, and his wife, Varsha, guilty on all 12 counts against them.
Mahender Sabhnani looked stunned as the verdict was read. Daughter Pooja started crying. Another daughter, Dakshina, collapsed backwards in her seat. Then Varsha Sabhnani, who had been crying with her head on her husband’s chest, got up and leaned over to help her daughter. At that point, Dakshina screamed, “Papa! Papa! Papa!” The judge immediately cleared the courtroom.
Varsha Sabhnani then mumbled the name of one of her daughters, although it wasn’t clear which one, then collapsed. Her other daughter, Tina, yelled, “We didn’t do anything to anybody. How could this happen to us?”
Varsha Sabhnani and her daughter, Dakshina, were both rushed to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore.
Each juror still has to be polled individually. Although they could change the verdict, the judge said, “As far as I’m concerned, the verdict has been ended. It’s done with.”
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