Office said it would appeal the decision before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

"We are concerned and disappointed that two judges substituted their assessment of the facts for that of 12 jurors who personally heard the testimony of over 40 witnesses over the course of several weeks and found that the evidence was sufficient and proved DeLay's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt," District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's office said in a statement.

DeLay, now 66, was at a Washington prayer meeting when he learned of the decision.

"We were all basically on our knees praying and our lawyer calls and says, 'You're a free man,' " he said at the Capitol, where he was attending the weekly Texas congressional delegation lunch. DeLay said he was "very happy" about the decision.



"This wasan outrageous criminalization of politics, and I'm so glad that they wrote the ruling that they did," he said.

DeLay, who first came to Congress in 1985, left the House voluntarily in 2006 as he was facing a tough re-election fight. He served as majority leader, the House's No. 2 job

A Texas jury convicted DeLay in November 2010 for illegally funneling $190,000 in corporate money, via the Republican National Committee, to help elect GOP candidates to the Texas Legislature in 2002. The RNC then in turn sent checks to Texas House candidates.

State law prohibits corporations from giving directly to political candidates and their campaigns.

Prosecutors argued that the money to state candidates helped the GOP take control of the Texas Legislature, which then adopted DeLay's redistricting plan that resulted in