On June 29, 2006, after a nine-week trial, a federal jury in the Middle District of Alabama acquitted Paul Michael Hamrick, former chief of staff to Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, of all charges including RICO, mail and wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. The charges were a part of the most significant public corruption trial in the history of the State of Alabama. Michel Nicrosi, who defended Mr. Hamrick, stated after the verdict, "The prosecution's case had three problems: evidence, indictment, and presentation. There was no evidence of Mr. Hamrick's participation in a RICO conspiracy to operate the executive branch of the State of Alabama as a criminal organization, and the jury flatly rejected the prosecution's theory of the case. Mr. Hamrick's inclusion in this case was inappropriate."