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A longtime Texas politician can now breathe a sigh of relief after a months-long corruption trial ended in his favor. John Wiley Price, the longtime Dallas County Commissioner, called himself the “luckiest Black man in America” after the trial concluded.

Roland Martin reported on Price’s case on NewsOne Now, remarking on the near-brush with federal jail time that the commissioner faced. Staff welcomed Price, 67, back on Tuesday, when the flamboyant commissioner returned to work. In a report from The Dallas Morning News, Price cracked jokes with staff and equipped slyly that he was away on vacation while the trial was underway.

Last February, Price’s trial began and did not testify throughout the whole ordeal. He faced seven counts of federal bribery and mail fraud charges, and he also faced an additional four counts of tax evasion. Because of the jury finding him not on the bribery and fraud charges and hung on the tax evasion counts, Martin noted in his report that business and political consultant Kathy Nealy’s accusations of paying over $1 million in bribes to Price may also be thrown out. Martin also mentioned that upon Price’s return to work, the court had an appreciation day for jurors.

Nealy, who has consulted Bill and Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats lobbying for support in Southern Texas, is accused of working with Price in brokering private deals with companies that were biased in favor of the pair.

Prosecutors have a month to decide on whether to try Price again on the tax evasion counts.

Watch Roland Martin’s NewsOne Now report on John Wiley Price’s trial and return to Dallas Commissioners Court in the clip above.

Watch NewsOne Now with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.

SOURCE: The Dallas Morning News

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