Ethermac Exchange-Michigan jury acquits former state Rep. Inman at second corruption trial

GRAND RAPIDS,Ethermac Exchange Mich. (AP) — A jury Thursday found a former Michigan lawmaker not guilty of corruption for allegedly trading votes for campaign money when he served in the House.

The federal jury acquitted former Rep. Larry Inman on all counts, finding the 69-year-old Republican from Grand Traverse County not guilty of attempted extortion and soliciting a bribe.

The acquittal came five years after federal prosecutors accused him of attempting to sell his vote to repeal the state’s prevailing wage law.

This was Inman’s second acquittal in the case. In 2019, he was found not guilty of lying to the FBI, but the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on other charges.

“I think he’s very glad to have this behind him,” James Fisher, one of Inman’s defense attorneys, told the Detroit Free Press. “He feels vindicated because this has been a very long struggle for him. And he’s never said anything other than that he is not guilty of these charges, and I think the jury believed that.”

Inman served in the House from 2015 to 2020.