A federal investigation into Jack Evans, a former member of the D.C. Council, has ended without any criminal charges, according to an attorney for Evans.

“The U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed yesterday that its investigation of former Councilperson Jack Evans has been concluded and no action will be taken against him,” the attorney, Abbe David Lowell, said in a statement on Thursday. 

Lowell declined to answer specific questions about the case. 

Evans could not immediately be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The end of the federal investigation was first reported by The Washington Post. 

The federal probe was ongoing since at least 2019, and was preceded by a separate investigation the year before by the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability into Evans’ relationship with a digital sign company. 

Evans resigned from his longtime post representing Ward 2 in January 2020, preempting a likely ouster by his colleagues on the council. Evans implored other members of the D.C. Council to delay action until the federal probe was resolved, but his requests went unheeded. 

The former lawmakers’ resignation followed other ethics investigations by the Metro board, which Evans chaired, and a firm hired by the D.C. Council. Those probes found the former lawmaker repeatedly violated conflict of interest rules by taking official actions to help developers and businesses that hired his private consulting firm. 

In 2018, the Post reported that Evans’ consulting firm received stock in an electric sign company before he introduced legislation that would have directly benefited the business. District Dig, a local news outlet, also chronicled Evans’ close ties to the sign company, Digi Media. 

The Post also found Evans and his staff used government email accounts to seek private business opportunities for his consulting firm.

The D.C. ethics board fined Evans $55,000 as part of settlements in the series of violations, which he paid off ahead of schedule, according to the Washington City Paper. 

Evans was a business-friendly voice on the council and served for 28 years on the body, the longest of any councilmember, before he stepped down. Shortly after resigning, Evans filed paperwork to run for the Ward 2 seat again. Voters rejected his bid, instead electing Councilmember Brooke Pinto.