HARTFORD — A federal jury took less than an hour Tuesday to find Deowraj Buddhu guilty of running a debt-reduction scam that left his financially struggling victims with deeper money troubles.

Buddhu, 70, of Wethersfield was found guilty of six counts of mail fraud and seven counts of "fictitious obligations." The verdict was announced shortly before 3:30 p.m. after the jury had deliberated for about 50 minutes. It followed nine days of testimony in U.S. District Court in Hartford.