Ian Smith, an owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, was cleared of all charges related to his defiance of state lockdown orders, an attorney for the entrepreneur revealed this week.

Smith drew national attention four years ago as he and Frank Trumbetti, his business partner, faced charges of defying emergency orders, disturbing the peace, and operating without a mercantile license, with many of the charges carrying fines or six-month prison sentences. Police on at least one occasion arrested gym members as they departed after their workouts.

John McCann, an attorney representing Smith, noted in an interview that “those charges hung over these guys’ heads for over four years.” Yet McCann revealed that the municipal charges against his client were dismissed, while he is currently seeking to retrieve the $165,000 fine that Atilis Gym was ordered to pay the state government for violating the emergency orders.

“When you look at this, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time,” McCann remarked. “It kind of looked like they were throwing everything they could at these guys.”

Atilis Gym indeed filed a federal lawsuit against New Jersey Democratic Governor Phil Murphy for “arbitrarily” ordering the closure of their business even as “liquor stores and big box stores” were permitted to remain open. The entrepreneurs accused the state government of violating their constitutional rights and overlooking the health precautions they had taken.

The removal of charges against Smith comes amid calls for a nationwide reckoning over the suspension of freedoms during the lockdowns. Many state lawmakers have introduced measures to revoke the emergency powers afforded to their chief executives or public health agencies, while veterans and service members vowed to hold senior military leaders accountable under the law for forcing vaccination and removing those deemed noncompliant.