John Edwards Found Not Guilty
Finally, some relief for John Edwards. Edwards has just been found not guilty on one of the six campaign fraud charges against him from his 2008 Presidential campaign. The judge declared a mistrial on the other counts when the jurors announced that they were deadlocked.
Edwards’ charges included four counts of illegal campaign contributions, one count of conspiracy, and one count of making false statements.
Edwards was found “not guilty” for one count of receiving illegal campaign contributions. The jury, consisting of eight men and four women, failed to reach a verdict for the other charges after nine deliberation days.
Edwards was charged with the six counts of fraud after he allegedly used $1 million in campaign contributions to cover up his mistress, Rielle Hunter, and their child.
If Edwards was found guilty, he could have faced a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.
In his closing arguments, Edwards’ attorney told the jury that the money used to hide Edwards’ mistress did not come from campaign money, and was given to him by a former campaign treasurer.
His attorney admitted that “John was a bad husband, but there is not the remotest chance that John did or intended to violate the law.”
After the verdict was read, Edwards went up to his 4-year-old daughter Quinn, who was his lovechild with Rielle Hunter, and said: “My precious Quinn, who I love more than any of you can ever imagine, [who] I am so close to, so, so grateful for.”
Elite.
