BURLINGTON, Vt. — A Bosnian native immigrated to Vermont after committing war crimes during his home country’s civil war and then lied to authorities when he applied for U.S. citizenship years later, according to federal prosecutors.

A jury deliberated until about 8 p.m. Thursday in the case of Edin Sakoc, who prosecutors said raped an Orthodox Christian woman and aided in the killings of two elderly women in her Bosnian Serb family in July 1992.

After about an hour of deliberations, the jury asked to rehear a recording of testimony that was played during the trial.

Sakoc, a Bosnian Muslim who arrived in the United States in 2001, is charged with lying about his role in the crimes in the town of Pocitelj when he applied for citizenship in 2007.

Defense Attorney Steven Barth said the crimes were committed by a powerful Bosnian Croat army commander and Sakoc couldn’t be held accountable for the actions of another, even though he was aware of the killings after they took place.

“Mr. Sakoc never raped anyone, never murdered anyone, he never lied,” Barth said during closing arguments Thursday, urging jurors to remember that to convict him they had to find prosecutors proved their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Sakoc’s attorneys claimed the witnesses’ stories were inconsistent and the alleged rape victim repeatedly changed her story over the years about whether she was assaulted.

If convicted, Sakoc, 55, could be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported.