In a stinging defeat to federal prosecutors in a major public corruption case, a Dallas jury Friday acquitted John Wiley Price of bribery and conspiracy charges.

Price was the target of a two-year FBI investigation that ultimately lead to his indictment on 11 bribery, conspiracy and tax fraud counts in 2014. He was accused of taking $1 million in the form of cash, cars and real estate to influence his vote on county contracts and hiding his assets from the IRS.

Price's prosecution was seen as a major priority of then-Northern District of Texas U.S. Attorney Sarah Saldana, who had personally sent a Dallas city councilman to prison for bribery before leaving the office to become the director of Customs and Immigration Enforcement under President Barack Obama.