A Cole County jury convicted Sandra Kenney Thursday on charges she planned an, attack on her husband’s pregnant girlfriend

The panel of nine women and three men took more than three hours to return guilty verdicts on two counts of first degree assault they recommended the 38 year-old defendant receive 15 years on each charge.

During the two-day trial, the defense tried to convince the jury that the prosecution’s star witnesses were lying when they testified that Mrs. Kenney recruited two men to beat up Naomi Baum and inject her with cocaine and anti-freeze.

But the prosecution maintained the testimony proved that Mrs. Kenney was obsessed with aborting the unborn child fathered by her husband Greg Kenney.

Prosecution witness "Janet Lene testified that she drove Richard Brinkman and Mikel Brice to Ms. Baum’s Oak Street home on. Nov: 20, but decided not to help them break into the house to attack the victim. Brinkman testified for the prosecution that he held Ms. Baum down while Brice injected her with syringe.

Ms. Lene pleaded guilty to a burglary charge for her involvement in the break-in. Brinkman was convicted of assault during a May trial. Brice awaits trial after pleading innocent to assault.

Dan Dodson, Mrs. Kenney’s attorney, maintained that the attackers were doing the bidding Of Ms. Lene, who admitted she was a member of a Los Angeles street gang.

"They were not taking orders from me, they were taking orders from Sandra," Ms. Lene responded.

When Dodson asked, she confessed that the set Greg Kenney’s residence on fire Last year.

"Miss Kenney said if the house got burned up, Mr. Kenney would come home to her," Ms. Lone said.

Greg Kenney testified that he met Ms. Baum in April 1996 while attending an alcohol abuse treatment program. He was living with her at the time of the attack. He remains married to his wife, he said, because he lacks the money to pay for a divorce.

When questioned by Dodson, Kenney admitted he told Ms. Baum he might get married to her while telling his wife he would not get remarried. He also told his wife he would live with Ms. Baum only until the baby was born.

"I told Sandra that so she would leave me alone," he said.

Ms. Baum testified that she had an encounter with Mrs. Kenney last July.

"She was threatening me, and she would have bit me if someone else had not stopped her," Ms. Baum said.

Angela Nichols, a prosecution witness, testified that Mrs. Kenney asked her Jo make threatening telephone calls to Ms. Baum on several occasions.

"She said she would do whatever she had to do to get her husband back Ms. Nichols said.

Another prosecution witness, Sunshine Morgan testified that Mrs. Kenney "made a comment that if Naomi was to ever get pregnant, she’d do what was necessary to get rid of Naomi and the baby?’

The defense built its case around attacking the credibility of prosecution witnesses. Dodson called defense witnesses who testified that Mrs. Kenney's accusers had ulterior motives

In his closing statement to the jury, Dodson said the prosecution’s witnesses were willing to lie whenever it was convenient for them. He claimed the prosecution scripted Ms. Lene’s and Brinkman's testimony by arranging meetings between the two;

But assistant prosecutor Bill Tackett countered: "You’ve got too many people telling the same story. You've got an unbelievable amount of evidence in this case."

The jury began deliberations around 4:10 p.m. Thursday and returned the guilty verdicts at 7:30 p.m.

Circuit Judge Byron Kinder gave Dodson 45 days to file a motion for a new trial. If Kinder denies the request, Mrs. Kenney is expected to be sentenced then.