Andrew Gillum and family PHOTO COURTESY OF FACEBOOK

MIAMI, Fla.— A federal judge who presided over the public corruption trial of former Tallahassee mayor and 2018 Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Andrew Gillum accepted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the 17 counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud after a jury was deadlocked on those charges.

Gillum’s co-defendant Sharon Lettman-Hicks, owner of P&P Communications and CEO of the National Black Justice Coalition, also won’t be retried for allegedly funneling campaign contributions to themselves.

Judge Allen Winsor issued the order to dismiss the case after prosecutors decided not to retry Gullum and Lettman-Hicks two weeks after a jury couldn’t reach a consensus.

The jury acquitted Gillium on one count of lying to FBI agents who accused him of accepting gifts from lobbyists including broadway musical tickets, hotel accomodations, dinner and a boat ride during a trip to New York in 2016.

The acquittal was a partial defeat for the government which conducted a public corruption sting at Tallahassee City Hall to unravel corruption starting in 2015.

FBI agents posed as sleazy developers offering bribes to city officials in return for government contracts.

The sting nabbed former Mayor and City Commissioner Scott Maddox and his aide, Paige Carter-Smith who was sentenced to prison and co-defendant, developer John "J.T." Burnette was found guilty by a jury in 2021.

However Gillum, who narrowly lost to Fla. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2016, escaped what would have been a lengthy prison term had he been convicted on all charges.

“Andrew Gillum had the courage to stand up and say I am innocent. And that is finally being recognized," said defense attorneys David Oscar Markus, Margot Moss and Katie Miller in a statement. "We want to thank the hard-working jury who did their job and explained to the government why it should drop the case. Andrew has endured a lot over the past few years and now can resume his life and public service.”

The jury started their deliberations on April 28 after two weeks of testimony and closing arguments from federal prosecutors and Gillum’s defense attorneys.

The jury appeared confused about the one count of the indictment which they needed to decide unanimously that he made the statement or it was false, and that it concerned a material matter that he acted willfully knowing it was false and that it concerned a matter within the jurisdiction of the federal government.

The jury asked Winsor whether they had to find that both statements were false to convict him of the charge. Winsor said one was enough.

The FBI said Gillum made false statements to them when they interviewed him in 2017.

The FBI said Gillum allegedly accepted gifts from lobbyists including broadway musical tickets, hotel accomodations, dinner and a boat ride during a trip to New York in 2016.

An FBI agent overseeing the investigation questioned Gillum on accepting money and gifts from Southern Pines Development Inc., a fictional company undercover agents used as part of their sting to unravel possible corruption at City Hall.

Gillum’s defense attorneys argued that FBI agents never asked him specifically about the alleged gifts, and that his statements during the FBI interview concerned an immaterial matter. The jury agreed.