Jurors told the court Monday they could not reach a verdict, prompting a federal judge to declare a mistrial in the case against District of Columbia Council member Trayon White Sr., whom prosecutors accuse of accepting $35,000 in cash bribes from a city contractor in exchange for helping secure multimillion-dollar contracts to provide violence prevention services to Washington-area youth.
White, 42, a Black Democratic lawmaker who has represented Ward 8 in southeastern Washington since 2016, faced up to 15 years in prison and removal from office if jurors found him guilty.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said in a statement on Monday that she will retry the case before another jury.
White chaired the D.C. Council’s Committee on Recreation, Library and Youth Affairs, which oversees the District’s Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS). The FBI arrested him in August 2024 after an informant, government contractor Allieu Kamara, engaged White in a “quid pro quo” deal to help Kamara’s homeless and mental health services companies win government contracts by having White influence decision-makers in the contracting process…