SPRINGFIELD, MO (AP) -- A Joplin couple who owned a southwest Missouri group home where 11 people died in a 2006 fire have been convicted of federal health care fraud.

Federal prosecutors announced late Thursday that Robert and Laverne DuPont were each found guilty of one count of fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. Robert DuPont was found not guilty of money laundering.

U.S. District Judge Greg Kays in Springfield delivered the verdicts 10 days after the couple appeared before him in court.

Robert DuPont had previously been banned from Medicaid reimbursement because of a 2002 fraud conviction.

The couple's holdings included the Anderson Guest House for the mentally ill and handicapped, where a fire in November 2006 killed 10 residents and one employee

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