Espy cleared of corruption charges

President Clinton said in a statement he was pleased with the verdict.

Espy was chased out of office in 1994 after allegations that he took illegal gifts on the job and then tried to cover it up. Independent Counsel Donald Smaltz was already investigating Espy when the White House asked the secretary to leave office.

AP PHOTOG
Former Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy is escorted by his

The case was the culmination of Smaltz's work, and the independent counsel tried much of the case himself. Espy pleaded innocent, and always maintained he was an innocent target of an overzealous prosecutor. He now practices law in Mississippi.

"He's not unlike any other schoolyard bully," Espy said of Smaltz. "You've got to stand up to him."

Outside the courthouse, Smaltz acknowledged disappointment but said he accepts the outcome. "We met our obligation and the jury has spoken," the prosecutor said.

The jury heard about two months of evidence and spent slightly less than two days deliberating before the foreperson faced Espy and slowly answered "not guilty" as the judge read out each charge.

When she was done, Espy and his lawyers huddled in a hug while relatives and supporters cried and held onto one another in the front rows of the courtroom.

"It's cost a lot, it's been tough, but I knew from day one that I would stand here before you completely exonerated," Espy said outside the courthouse.

Espy had faced 30 counts covering about $33,000 worth of gifts and entertainment he received from companies such as chicken giant Tyson Foods Inc. U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina threw out an additional eight charges before the jury began its deliberations.

Smaltz's investigation traced sports tickets, travel, meals and trinkets such as a crystal bowl and an oil painting that came from companies regulated by Espy's department.

Federal ethics laws prohibit expensive gifts to public officials. But Espy also was charged with more serious violations of the Meat Inspection Act, which could have meant three years in prison if he was convicted.

Smaltz had complained more than once during the trial about references to race made by both defense lawyers and by his own witnesses, and he made a direct appeal to the jury in his closing arguments Monday not to let "sympathy or race" color its verdict.

But he made no references to race after the verdict came in. Espy was the first black secretary of agriculture and the jury in the case was composed of 11 blacks and one white.

Jurors, who were identified only by number during the trial, were whisked from the courthouse without commenting.

Defense lawyer Ted Wells said he worries Smaltz's remarks may leave an impression that Espy owes his acquittal to racial sympathy from a majority-black jury in a majority-black city.

"I would like to think Mike Espy would have gotten off any place, because he didn't do anything," Wells said.

Espy's lawyers did not call any witnesses.

In his statement, Clinton said Espy had served the country with distinction.

"After what have been challenging times for Mr. Espy, both personally and professionally, I am heartened that he has, as he said, emerged from this ordeal stronger," Clinton said. "I hope that as he moves forward he will continue his notable record of service to the country."

Espy was a Democratic congressperson from Mississippi when Clinton nominated him to the Cabinet in 1993. He was the first Cabinet-level official to face trial since Raymond Donovan, labor secretary under Ronald Reagan. Donovan was acquitted in 1987 on charges involving old business deals.

Former Clinton Housing and Urban Development Secretary Henry Cisneros faces trial in February on charges involving payments he made to an ex-lover.

Smaltz claimed that Espy had his hand out from his first night on the job, when Tyson gave him extra tickets to an inaugural dinner for Clinton.

Other charges involved trips Espy took to the 1994 Super Bowl, a Chicago Bulls playoff game and the U.S. Open tennis tournament.

In some cases, Espy sought the tickets or made no attempt to conceal the fact that a company he regulated was paying the bills, prosecutors alleged. In other cases, Espy never knew who was paying the bills, or believed the favors were fine under federal gift laws, witnesses testified.

Among the 70 witnesses were farm executives who testified that they expected nothing in return for their gifts and that Espy had never showed any favoritism.

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