A federal judge in Washington dismissed fraud charges Thursday against Cortney Merritts, the husband of former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, bringing an apparent end to a case that stalled after jurors failed to reach a verdict.
Federal court records show prosecutors moved to dismiss the indictment during a hearing before U.S. District Judge Jia M. Cobb. The judge granted the request.
Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, had been charged with two felony fraud counts tied to applications for pandemic-era small business relief funds. Prosecutors alleged he submitted fraudulent paperwork connected to COVID-19 assistance programs.
The case went to trial last month. After nine days of testimony, the jury deliberated for three days but could not reach a unanimous decision, resulting in a deadlock.
Justin Gelfand, Merritts’ attorney, welcomed the dismissal.
“This is the right result for this innocent small business owner,” Gelfand said in a statement, adding that Merritts had sought financial relief during the pandemic for a moving business “built from the ground up.”
Federal court filings did not provide a detailed explanation for why prosecutors sought dismissal. A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to multiple reports.
The indictment stemmed from allegations involving Merritts’ applications for federal COVID-19 relief funds distributed through programs designed to assist businesses affected by the pandemic. Authorities have pursued thousands of similar fraud cases nationwide since 2020, often involving substantially larger sums.
Bush, who represented Missouri’s 1st Congressional District from 2021 to 2025, was not charged. She lost her reelection bid in 2024 and is now seeking to regain the St. Louis-based seat.
Bush is expected to compete in the Democratic primary later this year against Wesley Bell, who unseated her in the previous election.
The dismissal closes a chapter that drew local and national attention because of Merritts’ relationship to Bush and the broader scrutiny surrounding pandemic relief programs. Defense attorneys had argued Merritts legitimately applied for assistance during a period when many small business owners faced financial strain.
With the charges now dropped, Merritts faces no further federal prosecution in the case unless the government were to refile — a step prosecutors did not signal they intend to take.