In Egypt, Guilty Verdicts for Employees of Foreign Nonprofits CAIRO - An Egyptian criminal court on Tuesday found more than three dozen employees of foreign nonprofit groups, including at least 17 Americans, guilty of receiving illegal funds from abroad and operating unlicensed organizations in what the United States has criticized as a politically motivated trial that mars Egypt's transition to post-revolutionary democracy. The defendants were given prison sentences ranging from one to five years, with many of the Americans receiving the stiffest sentences. But it appears unlikely that any of them will go to prison soon, because the defendants plan to appeal and because most of them either left the country before the verdict or face suspended sentences. The guilty verdicts underline the persistent fear of foreign meddling among Egypt's leaders as well as the institutional disorder that has allowed for politically motivated trials. Since the revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak in 2011, Egypt's rulers - first a top military council, then President Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood - have at times blamed foreign agitators for the country's problems. At the same time, some of the groups targeted had been operating in Egypt for years and were trying to navigate the process of official registration when investigations against them began. But the guilty verdicts still came as a shocking twist in a case that has strained Egypt's relations with the United States and raised critical questions about the government's commitment to opening up the political process. Secretary of State John Kerry on Tuesday dismissed the trial as politically motivated and called on Egypt's leaders to allow the work of nongovernmental groups. "This decision runs contrary to the universal principle of freedom of association and is incompatible with the transition to democracy," Mr. Kerry said in a statement. In Washington, Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council, also condemned the verdicts, saying the decision "undermines the protection of universal human rights and calls into question the government of Egypt's commitments to support the important role of civil society." The verdict came one day after a prominent activist was sentenced to six months in prison for charges that included insulting the president and coincided with the first parliamentary discussions of a new law that nonprofit groups worry will restrict their work. The case has resonated in Washington since late 2011, when security forces raided the groups" offices, carting off files, computers and cash, because three of the groups are federally financed and chartered to promote democracy. One of the defendants, Sam LaHood, is an official of the International Republican Institute and the son of the American transportation secretary, Ray LaHood. Another is the Middle East director of the advocacy group Freedom House and a 24-year veteran of the American Foreign Service. The National Democratic Institute was also targeted. It and the Republican institute had been formally authorized by the Egyptian government to monitor the parliamentary elections in early January 2012. Last year, the United States flew six other Americans out of Egypt after reaching a deal to remove them from prosecution. A seventh, Robert Becker, chose to stay in solidarity with his Egyptian colleagues, but had left the country by the time the sentences were announced, according to his lawyer, Tharwat Abdel Shaheed. Ashley Southall contributed reporting from Washington.