A Liberal senator accused of misusing public funds and instructing a Senate staffer to cut down trees at his cottage has been found guilty of fraud and breach of trust.

The charges come more than three years after Raymond Lavigne was officially barred from the Upper House.

Lavigne, a Quebec senator appointed in 2002, was initially suspended from the Red Chamber after being charged with obstruction of justice, fraud and breach of trust.

However, Ontario Superior Court Judge Robert Smith found Lavigne not guilty on the obstruction charge.

The judge told the court that Lavigne "used and intended to use his public office for a purpose other than the public good."

The court said that the fraud amounted to $10,120.50.

Since being kicked out of the Senate in 2007, Lavigne ran up an additional $700,000 in salary and office expenses.

Between 2007 and late 2010, public financial records show that Lavigne spent $135,000 for travel and $180,000 in office expenses. He also collected $388,500 in salary over that period, CTV News reported last year.

The guilty plea could result in his permanent expulsion from office. Last year, NDP critics had called for a legislative motion to cut Lavigne off from his office expense account.

Lavigne is a former Liberal MP who was appointed to the Senate back in 2002. However, he was expelled from the Liberal caucus in 2006.

Lavigne's behaviour first aroused suspicion in the summer months of 2005, when an aide was spotted on his Quebec property chopping down trees, the court heard. The yard work resulted in the destruction of saplings on a neighbour's property, according to evidence.

After the neighbour complained, an investigation led to criminal charges.

With a report from CTV Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife