Michael Pizzi, the suspended mayor of Miami Lakes, Florida, has been acquitted of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents in connection with federal grant applications in the Miami suburb.

Pizzi was arrested in 2013 and accused of taking nearly US$ 7,000 in bribes, reports CBS Miami.  But despite a two-year investigation and a month-long trial in which

Federal prosecutors portrayed Pizzi as a greedy, corrupt politician who accepted thousands in illegal cash, the jury did not buy it.

Pizzi’s case was not entirely straightforward. He fought the charges insisting that he was trying to help the citizens of Miami Lakes and Medley, where he once served as town attorney, reports the Miami Herald.

After Pizzi was found innocent on all charges, Ben Keuhne, one of his lawyers, stated that this has been a lesson for government about good elected officials representing the best interest of their people. 

Jurors, however, said the decision was a difficult one. According to the Miami Herald, one said, “Most would have found him guilty, but there wasn’t enough evidence to prove him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

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