Jesse Benton was formerly an aide to Ron Paul. | AP Photo Former Paul aide Jesse Benton acquitted in campaign fraud case

Former Ron Paul aide Jesse Benton was acquitted Thursday of the final charge he had been facing in a case stemming from concealed payments to an Iowa state senator during the 2012 presidential race.

Benton, a longtime aide to Paul and his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), was acquitted of the charge of giving the FBI false statements related to the case. A federal judge had previously tossed out four of the five counts filed against him.


Sen. Paul's presidential campaign released a one-sentence statement in response to the verdict on Thursday.

"I am happy that justice has been served," Paul said in a statement passed along by his campaign.

Another former Ron Paul aide, Dimitri Kesari, was convicted of one of the five charges he had been facing: making the Paul campaign file falsified records about payments to then-Iowa state Sen. Kent Sorenson, who had previously backed Rep. Michele Bachmann before moving his support to the former Texas congressman.

The Des Moines, Iowa, jury acquitted Kesari of an additional charge of obstructing justice, and the jurors were unable to reach a verdict on the remaining counts of alleged conspiracy, creating false expenditure reports for the campaign, and making false statements.

Kesari served as the former congressman's deputy campaign manager, and Benton had served as his campaign chairman. More recently, Benton served as the head of a pro-Rand Paul super PAC.

