MANDEVILLE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana mayor has been cleared of ethics violation charges stemming from his 2010 campaign.

The Advocate reports the Ethics[1] Adjudicatory Board ruled Tuesday the state Board of Ethics[2] failed to prove Donald Villere[3] knowingly made false statements during the race to serve the remainder of a disgraced Mandeville mayor’s term. The state ethics board charged Villere[4] in 2011, citing a campaign piece mailed to Mandeville voters and an email sent to voters.

The adjudicatory board held a seven-hour hearing in September in which both Villere[5] and his opponent in that race, Trilby Lenfant, testified. The panel concluded that some of the statements in the campaign materials were false, but that there was no proof Villere[6] knew they were misleading.

Villere[7] says the eight-year case “failed the taxpayers of Louisiana.”

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Information from: The Advocate, http://theadvocate.com

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