A Milwaukee County jury Friday acquitted former Milwaukee County Supervisor Johnny Thomas of bribery and misconduct charges, after deliberating for less than 90 minutes.

The verdicts came on the fifth day of a trial that focused on whether Thomas' actions in a bribery sting operation amounted to a crime. Prosecutors based their case on Thomas' acceptance of $500 in cash last December at a coffee shop and recordings of that exchange and other conversations with a top county official pretending to offer campaign donations on behalf of a county contractor.

Thomas, 43, said the verdict was warranted.

"I knew I had done nothing wrong," he said. Family members and friends in the courtroom hugged and expressed joy at the verdict after it was read.

Assistant District Attorney Kurt Benkley, the prosecutor in the case, declined to comment.

Juror Rebekah Turner said the jury quickly came to agreement that Thomas was set up and was inno cent of the charges.

"I felt very strongly he was definitely not guilty," Turner said. If Thomas decides to run for office again, "I'd vote for him," she said.

She said Patrick Farley, a top county official who participated in a sting operation against Thomas, "went a circuitous route to bring (Thomas) down." The jury members, who included 10 women and two men, were puzzled as to what Farley's motive was in participating in the undercover operation against Thomas, Turner said.

Farley's concerns about Thomas' delay of a county bond counsel contract, coupled with his requests for county vendor lists and business cards of firms appearing before county committees, led him to go to prosecutors and triggered the undercover operation. Farley is director of the county's Department of Administrative Services and a former assistant district attorney.

Farley issued a statement Friday saying it was his duty to cooperate.

"I had concerns about a public contract and brought those concerns to the district attorney's office," Farley said. "The DA launched an investigation and asked for my help.

"I felt it was the right thing to do and part of my duty as a public official to cooperate with investigators."

County Executive Chris Abele, who had backed Farley's participation in the sting, said in a statement that he would "continue to urge all public employees to bring any concerns they have to the proper authorities."

Career derailed

Thomas would have been elected city comptroller if he hadn't been charged in the sting operation, said his attorney, Craig Mastantuono. Thomas suspended his campaign for comptroller after he was charged with bribery in February. He served a single term as county supervisor.

The jury determined that Farley's credibility was "minimal" after hearing the case, Mastantuono said.

"It was not just a thin case, it was an act created by the government," he said. "It was investigated poorly, and the DA's office had no evidence of a crime."

He called the undercover bribery probe "an overdone effort to assert government authority."

District Attorney John Chisholm said he respected the jury's verdict in the case. He declined further comment.

In his closing argument Friday, Benkley told jurors that Thomas' acceptance of the $500 last December was a clear-cut case of bribery. Thomas' recorded conversations with Farley showed a "subtle dance between the two" as a bribe scheme was concocted, Benkley said. Still, their words made plain Thomas' intent, Benkley said.

"To put it bluntly, it's 500 bucks up front and 500 bucks cash on delivery," Benkley said. Farley hinted of an additional payment to Thomas after the financial contract was approved as part of the sting, but the second payment was never made.

Mastantuono called the case a setup using Farley - a man Thomas trusted but who was lying as part of the undercover operation. He accused prosecutors and Farley of having tunnel vision about Thomas and the reasons why he had apparently stalled approval of a county financial advice contract worth $700,000.

Thomas testified that he was waiting for a study on the best way to select financial advisers in 2011, then forgot about the pending contract until reminded of it by Farley in December.

The sting operation targeting Thomas started with Farley's suspicion that Thomas, a key committee chairman, was holding up the contract as a means of leveraging a payoff, according to prosecutors. Mastantuono said Thomas' own words recorded in the case showed he did not link a donation to scheduling the financial contract for a vote.

Prosecutors used vague statements of Thomas "in support of lies" uttered by Farley in a series of phone calls and meetings, Mastantuono said.

"And they got the wrong result and ruined his public career," the defense attorney said.

Thomas acknowledged in testimony this week that it was important to raise money for his comptroller campaign, but denied there was a connection between the $500 and his scheduling a vote on the contract a day later.

Thomas trusted Farley because of his background as a lawyer and former prosecutor, Mastantuono said.

Benkley brushed off that remark as an old defense ploy to try to distract jurors.

"Patrick Farley is not on trial here," Benkley said during his closing argument.

The prosecutor held up the wad of bills that Thomas collected from Farley on Dec. 6 in a coffee shop meeting and counted them off, $100, $200, $300, $400, $500. "Does that offend you?" Benkley asked the jurors. "That's how Mr. Thomas conducted your business in the county."

Thomas would have faced up to 9 ½ years in prison and a $20,000 fine if he had been convicted on both counts.

The charges against Thomas grew out of a broader secret John Doe investigation into county government. A document filed in the Thomas case by his lawyer said prosecutors had concerns about possible corruption involving other county supervisors. No charges against any other supervisors were filed.

Mastantuono also revealed in court filings that Thomas himself had agreed to secretly tape a conversation with another potential county contractor and suggested the man pay supervisors bribes, at the request of prosecutors. That vendor said he declined to do that.

No mention of Thomas' role in that unsuccessful sting was made at the county supervisor's trial.

Eugene Kane of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.