Tom Barrack, a long-standing ally of former President Donald Trump, was acquitted on all foreign lobbying charges on Friday.
He was acquitted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent in the United States and of conspiring to act as an unregistered foreign agent.
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A jury in Brooklyn deliberated for 13 hours beginning Wednesday.
His associate, Matthew Grimes, was also acquitted of the same charges.
Barrack was also acquitted of one count of obstruction of justice and six counts of making false statements.
The men were accused and indicted last year. Prosecutors claimed that Barrack, along with Grimes, used his influence as a former fundraiser for Trump and the former chairman of Trump’s inaugural committee to promote issues important to the United Arab Emirates in exchange for monetary investments from the Emirati government.
Emirati businessman Rashid al Malik was also a target of the investigation. After being interviewed by the FBI in 2018, he fled the United States and remains at large.
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Barrack, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, argued that his actions were related to his job as CEO of private equity firm Colony Capital, now called DigitalBridge.
If Barrack had not been acquitted, he could have spent up to 15 years in prison. Grimes was facing up to 10 years in prison.
