Jury Gets Tom DeLay Money-Laundering Case

"Even those who govern must be governed and follow the law," Cobb said.

The ex-congressman, once dubbed "The Hammer" for his hard-hitting political style, was indicted in 2005 on charges of violating campaign finance laws that ban corporate contributions to state political campaigns, as well as conspiracy.

The Chronicle said prosecutors played tapes of an interview DeLay gave to investigators in 2005, in which he admitted knowing about a $190,000 corporate money swap between his Texas political committee and the Republican National Committee.

DeLay has maintained his innocence on all charges.

DeLay's two co-defendants face lesser charges, and their cases will be tried separately. Prosecutors have said they'll press charges of election code violations against John Colyandro and Jim Ellis.

If convicted of the money-laundering charge, DeLay could face 5 to 99 years, or life, in prison, according to The Associated Press.

Earlier this year, the Justice Department ended its six-year criminal investigation of ties between DeLay and convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff without filing any charges against the former congressman.