Regola (R., Westmoreland) had been charged with perjury, reckless endangerment, and allowing a minor, his son, to illegally possess the weapon. Prosecutors had argued that Regola was lying when he denied at a coroner's inquest that his son, Bobby, ever kept the gun in his room.

The freshman lawmaker, who is running for reelection, could have been removed from office had he been found guilty of perjury or the endangerment count, both felonies.

The charges stemmed from the July 2006 death of Regola's neighbor Louis Farrell, who was found shot to death in woods behind their homes with the senator's 9mm Taurus pistol nearby.

Regola, 45, did not speak after the verdict, but said in a statement: "I hope that today's verdict will bring some closure to this tragic episode to everyone involved."

Regola's attorney, Charles Porter Jr., said the verdict was "100 percent accurate."

"This has been a tragedy all along, and this prosecution continued this tragedy," Porter said.

District Attorney John Peck said he accepted the jury's verdict, but believed the witnesses were credible and the outcome should have been different.

"We tried the best case we could try," Peck said. "I think that the evidence was there. The jury obviously disagreed with my estimation of the case."

Earlier yesterday, during closing arguments, Porter told jurors that Farrell's death was a tragedy, but that Regola should not be punished criminally for it.

"Don't destroy his life because a tragedy occurred," Porter said. "All tragedies don't require criminal consequences."

Peck had urged the jurors to hold Regola accountable for lies he told during a coroner's inquest that robbed Farrell's parents of clear answers of what happened when the gun killed their son.

"If we can't find the truth, we have no hope of justice," Peck said.

Bobby Regola, 18, is serving one year on juvenile probation because he was a minor when he illegally possessed the gun implicated in Farrell's death.

Peck contended the gun was Bobby's 2003 Christmas present, that Bobby kept it in his room for months or years, and that he showed it off to Farrell in 2004.

At the coroner's inquest, Regola testified that he kept the gun in his office before moving it to his bedroom weeks before the shooting. State police troopers say Regola had told them the gun was in Bobby's room before it was moved to the master bedroom.

A coroner determined that Farrell committed suicide, although his family says that it believes the death was an accident and that Bobby Regola knows more about what happened when Farrell was shot than he has admitted.