Commissioner John Wiley Price's Fate In Hands Of Jury

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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The future for Dallas county's longest serving elected official is now in hands of the jury.

Commissioner John Wiley Price and assistant Dapheny Fain face federal bribery and tax evasion charges. The jury will begin deliberations at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

On Tuesday, jurors listened to closing arguments after watching eight weeks of testimony in the case.

Federal government attorneys told the jury Commissioner Price sold his influence and decided who would get millions in government contracts in exchange for years of a payoffs from Kathy Nealy, a political lobbyist and consultant who faces a separate trial.

"More than $1 million in the form of cash, cars and land flows into commissioner price's hands," stated Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine Marshall before jurors.

The government pointed to a list of bank records, documents detailing price receiving checks from Nealy, and other evidence in their claim of bribery and conspiracy.

But Price's attorneys said the FBI wanted Price, because one agent didn't like him.

"The government's case is nothing short of disgusting," Price's attorney Chris Knox told the jury.

Knox said the government's case is filled with reasonable doubt. Attorneys stated Price never took bribes,  and money found in a safe was proceeds from loan repayments.

"They dug and dug because they don't have the evidence," Knox told jurors.