PROVO — After years of silence, a former Provo municipal councilman, once charged with counts of fraud and exploitation, spoke out Wednesday against the claims made against him.

Steve Turley resigned from the Provo Municipal Council in Sept. 2011 following claims he’d fraudulently scammed people in real estate deals.

But Tuesday, the last of 10 charges against him was dropped, and Turley now can finally heave a sigh of relief. On Wednesday, he spoke with the media for the first time in almost four years.

“This has been a lot of hell,” Turley said. “And yet we’re here today, proud to have the judge confirm what we’ve always known, that there was no criminal activity on my part.”

His wife, Kylie Turley, said she and her husband were grateful for all the support lent to them during their difficult time.

“There are so many people who have stood beside us,” she said. “Frankly, when I read all the articles, I thought, who is this awful person they’re talking about? Because that’s not my husband.”

Turley faced a lengthy court process, and in July 2014, Judge James Taylor of the Fourth District Court ruled all charges, except for one, would be dropped.

In mid-January, the complainants behind the final charge, Trudy and Rory Childs, wrote a letter to the court stating that there was a “miscommunication.”

“It appeared to her and to us that there was a misunderstanding,” said Brett Tolman, Turley’s attorney.

Turley said it appeared the Childs’s didn’t thoroughly enough read a contract he wrote for them regarding a property purchase, and they thought he was committing fraud.

“My assessment of it was you have some civil disputes,” Tolman said. “And we should be really reluctant to turn those into felony prosecutions.”

Turley said it was emotionally difficult for he and his family to accept that felony charges were being brought against him.

“I couldn’t bring myself to say the f-word, the felony word,” he said. “I couldn’t believe that was the allegation made against me. And not just one, but 10.”

But Tolman soon realized Turley was, in his opinion, being completely honest with him and revealing all facts that he knew to be true.

“It was really refreshing to have Steve as a client because he would tell me what happened, and as I dug into it, the facts backed up what he said,” Tolman said.

Turley said he does not plan to serve in public office again.

“There was a rush to justice,” Turley said. “There was an intense amount of pressure to make this go away. … I did nothing wrong.”

Provo Mayor John Curtis wrote in a blog post Tuesday that he hopes the dismissal of charges will give Turley the “fresh start he deserves.”

Turley has not yet had a chance to speak with Curtis, but he said he’s sure what the mayor did at the time with the information he had was appropriate.

The Daily Herald has reached out to but not spoken with Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman or his chief deputy, Tim Taylor, for comment.

“As we heal, I hope the rest of the community has an opportunity to heal,” Turley said.