Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price will not be retried on any charges related to his corruption case, federal prosecutors announced Friday.
U.S. Attorney John R. Parker said he’s disappointed in the not-guilty and hung-jury verdicts from Price’s trial last month, but pursuing another trial “will not serve the interests of justice.”
Prosecutors said they also are dropping their case against political consultant Kathy Nealy, Price’s longtime friend who was charged with bribing him. Price was accused of taking nearly $1 million in bribes from Nealy in exchange for helping her clients win contracts and other lucrative approvals.
Price said he felt “relieved and blessed.” Invoking Nelson Mandela, Price said his feeling of freedom was “indescribable,” though he said many others in the American justice system weren’t as lucky.
“God showed me favor,” Price said. “We owe it to continue to try to make the system that we’ve inherited better, and that’s what I work to do every day.”
At 67, Price, who’s held office for three decades, is one of Dallas’ most prominent black politicians. Supporters call him “our man downtown.” At trial, prosecutors sought to paint Price as greedy, yet acknowledged the good he had done in boosting the hiring of minority contractors and pushing overhauls of the county jail and hospital.
DallasNews