Federal prosecutors said Tuesday they will retry the elected Washington state auditor on charges he pocketed millions of dollars in needless fees while running a real estate services business a decade ago, after his five-week fraud trial ended in April with a hung jury, AP reported. The prosecution accused auditor Troy Kelley of pocketing $3 million in fees he should have refunded to homeowners. But after deliberating for several days, a federal jury failed to reach a verdict on 14 of 15 charges against Kelley, which included possession of stolen property and money laundering. On the one count where the jury did agree, it acquitted him of lying to the IRS. "After careful review we have decided to seek a new trial for Troy X. Kelley on the charges the jury could not reach a verdict on," Seattle U.S. Attorney Annette Hayes said in a written statement. "We believe it is in the interest of justice to seek final judgment on all the counts in the indictment." Prosecutors said during a hearing Tuesday at U.S. District Court in Tacoma that they plan to try Kelley again. Judge Ronald Leighton set a trial date of March 13, 2017, by which time Kelley, who is not seeking re-election, will no longer remain in office. Defense attorney Patty Eakes said she was surprised by the government's decision, given that jurors in the first trial leaned toward acquittal on the key charge that Kelley possessed stolen property.
