A jury found Ed "NJ Weedman" Forchion not guilty of witness tampering Thursday afternoon.
The marijuana activist raised his arms in victory after the jury read the verdict in Mercer County Superior Court in Trenton.
His supporters cheered, and with a smile on his face, he invited the prosecutor, John Boyle, to his victory party.
Before that, he asked the judge about the 400-plus days he's spent in jail awaiting, and during his two trials. The Weedman, though, had to go back to the Mercer County jail to be officially released.
"I guess it goes to show that you can be provocative or rub people the wrong way, but that's not a crime," his standby public defender Chris Campbell said after the verdict.
At his first trial in November, a jury acquitted him of one count of witness tampering, and was hung on a second, forcing this trial. He acted as his own attorney both times.
He said then, and repeated it at this trial, that he was just exercising his First Amendment rights when he sent packages containing letters and photos to the family of a confidential informant in the marijuana dealing case against him.
During his hour-long closing statements Tuesday, Forchion repeated to jurors sentiments of his opening statements. He claimed he always wanted the confidential informant to testify in his drug trial and that he didn't go against a protective order concealing the identity of the informant.
"At no time did I deliberately break this order, because there was no order," Forchion said.
He also said everything he posted on social media and mailed to the family of the informant was him "just exercising his right to free speech."
Forchion also asked the jury in closing statements that no matter what they decide, "please make it unanimous, so I'm not stuck in this place anymore."
Boyle, an assistant Mercer County prosecutor, told the jury in his closing statements that sending multiple packages to the family members of a confidential informant couldn't be construed as anything other than threatening.
The first package, addressed to the father of the confidential informant, contained a letter stating "You've been served," and, "Give him s---, then give him this [package]."
Other packages were sent to members of the confidential informant's family, stating Forchion knew what kind of car they drove, where children in the family lived and multiple handwritten notes calling the confidential informant a "rat-fink b---h."
"In its totality, mailing after mailing, after mailing," Boyle said to the jury, "After reaching out to his mother, father, his wife, his neighbors, his sister. Who would ever come in (to testify) after this?"
Forchion still awaits trial on marijuana dealing charges, the case from which the witness tampering accusations stemmed.
In that case, Mercer County authorities raided his restaurant in Trenton in the summer of 2016 and arrested him and others on accusations he was dealing marijuana from the business - NJ Weedman's Joint, and an adjacent cannabis church, both on East State Street across from Trenton City Hall.
He had posted bail on that case when he was arrested and jailed in this, tampering case.
Paige Gross may be reached at pgross@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @By_paigegross. Find NJ.com on Facebook.