2 Acquitted in Espy Illegal-Donation Case

A federal jury handed independent counsel Donald C. Smaltz a setback, acquitting two former executives of a large crop insurance company of making illegal contributions to Henry Espy’s failed congressional campaign to curry favor with his brother, then-Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy. The jury found defendants John J. Hemmingson, 46, the former chief executive of Crop Growers Corp., and Gary A. Black, 50, the firm’s former chief financial officer, not guilty of charges that they conspired to circumvent laws against corporate campaign contributions. Hemmingson and Black were also acquitted of falsifying business records to disguise the corporate contributions and causing the Henry Espy campaign to file false contribution reports with the Federal Election Commission.