ALAMANCE COUNTY, N.C. – A judge has dismissed a federal lawsuit that accused Alamance County Sheriff Terry Johnson of discriminating against Hispanics.

The Department of Justice had claimed that Johnson’s office practiced discriminatory policing and unconstitutional searches by targeting Latino drivers. The judge ruled in Johnson’s favor.

The trial began last year, four years after an investigation was launched into the claims.

The lawsuit claimed the department encouraged a number of discriminatory policing practices and that Latino drivers were racially profiled and often stopped without reason.

Judge Thomas D. Schroeder’s decision was received by Sheriff Johnson’s legal staff on Friday.

In part, the judgment reads that “it is therefore ordered and adjudged that the claims of the United States be denied, and that Judgment be entered for Defendant Sheriff Johnson, and that the complaint be dismissed with prejudice.”

The Alamance County Sheriff’s Office said they will address the matter at a press conference on Monday morning.