PHILADELPHIA – The trial for Philadelphia councilman Kenyatta Johnson and his wife has ended in a mistrial after days of jury deliberations.
In January, Johnson, 46, and his wife Dawn Chavous, 40, were indicted on fraud charges in what officials called a "widespread corruption conspiracy." Federal authorities accused Johnson, who has been a councilman since 2012, of engaging in official actions in exchange for payments.
Chavous is accused of entering into a "sham" consulting agreement with a nonprofit that was used to funnel payments to her husband, authorities say. "We are gratified that some of the jurors appear to recognize the government did not introduce a single piece of hard evidence that either the Councilmember or Ms.
Chavous did something wrong," a joint statement from Johnson's attorney's Patrick Egan and Barry Gross read. They claimed that the 6-year investigation that included over 150 interviews and two million documents turned up no evidence of wrongdoings.