The grand jury returned a no true bill today, according to Franklin County commonwealth's attorney Larry Cleveland. Cleveland says the state revenue department was pursuing charges against Nickolas for allegedly pocketing donations that were intended for his web page, then not paying taxes on the income. Nickolas is a former democratic campaign manager and operative who now runs BluegrassReport.org, a web site that reports on Kentucky politics and is a constant critic of the Fletcher administration. After Nickolas filed a federal lawsuit against the Fletcher administration for blocking access to his political blog and others from state computers, the revenue department pursued criminal charges against him for allegedly failing to pay taxes and misusing funds intended to keep his business afloat. Friends of Nickolas' claimed the actions were tied together, that the Fletcher administration was using its tax collectors to "get" Nickolas, a charge denied by the Fletcher folks.

Today, a grand jury considered a theft by deception charge against Nickolas, according to the prosecutor. But Cleveland says Nickolas presented evidence that he had poured as much of his own money into his web page as he had taken out, convincing the grand jurors there was not enough evidence of a crime. Nickolas' lawyer, Scott White, says Nickolas "has been completely exonerated."

A civil lawsuit against Nickolas was dismissed earlier this year after he essentially apologized on his web page for a posting about a Louisville man.

Nickolas' first amendment lawsuit against the Fletcher administration is still pending in federal court.