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A Greensboro, N.C., jury has acquitted former presidential candidate John Edwards on one count of taking illegal campaign funds, but the judge declared a mistrial after the jury became deadlocked on five other counts.

“While I don’t believe I did anything illegal … I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong, and there is no one else responsible for my sins,” said Edwards, speaking after the trial and taking no questions from reporters. “if I want to find the person who should be held accountable for my sins, honestly I don’t have to go any farther than the mirror. It’s me. it is me and me alone.”

Edwards, 58, was charged with taking illegal campaign funds in a political tempest that embroiled him in a scandal that included his aides, campaign contributors and his mistress — now the mother of the couple’s 4-year-old daughter. But the jury was not convinced that taking the money amounted to a violation of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

Jurors told Judge Catherine Eagles that they had reached a decision on each of the six counts, which she mistakenly took to mean that they had reached a verdict. it turned out that they had not come to a final decision on all the counts. She sent the jury back to its chamber to deliver a final decision, and the result was an acquittal on the charge of taking money from a wealthy donor. with no verdict on the other counts, Eagles declared a mistrial.

The jury deliberated for nine days in the trial, which was at times emotional and at other times bizarre, with testimony from staffers in his 2008 presidential campaign, including aide Andrew Young and his wife Cheri. The couple, having been granted immunity from prosecution, said they worked to conceal the fact that money coming from wealthy contributors intended for the campaign was actually being used to take care of Edwards’ then pregnant mistress, Rielle Hunter.

(MORE: Wife of Edwards’ Ex-Aide: ‘I Agreed to Go Along with the Lie’)

That money — $1 million in donations — was given by Edwards supporters Rachel “Bunny” Mellon and Texas lawyer Fred Baron. Cheri Young testified that she was assured that depositing the money in an account the two shared was legal. She said that in a conversation she listened to between her husband and Edwards, the candidate said his campaign-finance advisers told him there was nothing illegal about what he was doing.

Prosecutors said Edwards deliberately accepted the money and intended to use it to conceal Hunter and her pregnancy and that he “knowingly” violated campaign-finance laws to do so. The money, they said, was used to pay for Hunter’s medical and living expenses. Edwards was married to Elizabeth Edwards at the time. She died of cancer in 2010.

(MORE: Did the Obama Campaign know about John Edwards’ Affair?)

But his defense said Edwards did no such thing and was not trying to use the funds for Hunter. They countered that the Youngs kept the money and used it for their own gain, accusing them of attempting to cash in again by releasing a book about their experience with Edwards. neither Edwards nor Hunter testified in the trial.

In addition to his child with Hunter, Edwards is now raising two children, ages 13 and 11, and has a 30-year-old daughter, Cate. He admitted fathering Hunter’s child after newspapers publicized the affair between them and agreed to pay child support. The child now lives with her mother in Charlotte, N.C.

Edwards was also accused of falsifying documents and of conspiracy to receive the funds and conceal them. He was facing a maximum of 30 years in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

MORE: John Edwards Trial: Tawdry Testimony, But was There a Crime?

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (AFP) – the judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the John Edwards trial after jurors failed to reach a verdict on five out of six charges against the fallen US political star.

Edwards was found not guilty of one count of using campaign donations to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 2008. A mistrial was declared on the five remaining counts.

The disgraced politician saw his stellar career collapse after he fathered a child with videographer Rielle Hunter in 2007 and then lied about their affair to his cancer-stricken wife, Elizabeth, and the public.

Outside court in Greensboro, North Carolina, a relieved Edwards, who was John Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004, said he only had himself to blame for his spectacular fall from grace but insisted he had done nothing criminal.

“While I do not believe I did anything illegal or ever thought I was doing anything illegal, I did an awful, awful lot that was wrong and there is no one else responsible for my sins,” he said.

Choking up as he spoke, Edwards gave a very public acceptance of four-year-old Frances Quinn, the daughter whose paternity he once denied.

After thanking the rest of his family for their support, he said: “And then, finally, my precious Quinn who I love more than any of you could ever imagine, and I am so close to and so, so grateful for.”

Several seconds passed before he could continue.

“I don't think God's through with me,” he said. “I really believe he thinks there's still some good things I can do.”

The 58-year-old former North Carolina senator had faced up to 30 years in prison and $1.5 million in fines if convicted of intentionally using nearly $1 million from two wealthy donors to hide his affair.

It was not immediately clear if prosecutors would pursue a retrial.

The mistrial ruling capped a confusing and dramatic day in Greensboro as jurors struggled to convince Judge Catherine Eagles that they were unable to reach a verdict on most of the charges.

The judge appeared surprised when the foreman originally announced that a verdict had only been reached on one count, concerning the alleged illegal use of a 2008 donation from banking heiress Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, now 101.

Edwards faced another count of misusing a donation from Mellon in 2007 as well as two similar counts of misusing money given by wealthy Texas lawyer Fred Baron, who died in 2008.

A fifth charge alleged conspiracy between Edwards and his one-time aide Andrew Young, who initially claimed to be the baby's father just before an American tabloid revealed the affair. A sixth count accused Edwards of illegally filing campaign finance reports.

After a short recess, Eagles ordered the jurors to return to their deliberations for the rest of the day to see if they could reach a unanimous decision on all counts.

“There is no reason to believe that any future trial could produce better or more decisive evidence,” Eagles said, as a hunched-up Edwards, accompanied by his daughter Cate, looked on, rubbing his temples nervously.

Jurors had been deliberating for nine days in the case that laid bare the extramarital affair that the Democratic presidential candidate embarked on during his second bid for the White House.

An hour after being asked to resume, the jury insisted it had exhausted all possible options and was still deadlocked. the judge called the jurors back to the courtroom and declared a mistrial on the five remaining counts.

Prosecutors had pinned their hopes on a key interview in which Edwards publicly admitted the affair for the first time but denied being the father of Hunter's baby girl, despite insisting he wanted to tell the truth.

The interview aired in August 2008, after his presidential bid ended. Just days earlier, Edwards was photographed cradling Frances Quinn at a Beverly Hills hotel. but he refused to publicly recognize that he had fathered the child until January 2010.

The defense introduced evidence during the trial showing that much of the funds — about $800,000 of it — ended up in the hands of Young, and much of that went towards the construction of the aide's $1.6 million North Carolina home.

Defense attorneys say Edwards did not ask for the money that was used to hide the affair, and that the contributions were unrelated to the campaign.

Legal experts saw the prosecution as risky due to the complicated nature of campaign finance law.