Aug. 21--John Mangan Jr. fought the SEC and won.

A U.S. District Court judge on Wednesday dismissed the remaining charge against the former Charlotte hedge fund manager in a long-running securities case.

U.S. District Court Judge Graham Mullen threw out the Securities and Exchange Commission's allegation of insider trading in a summary judgment ruling. The case related to a trade Mangan made in 2001 when he worked for the Charlotte office of investment bank Friedman Billings Ramsey.

In October, Mullen dismissed an SEC claim that Mangan had committed a violation in a transaction involving a Maryland-based security company called CompuDyne Corp. At the time, the judge said he was "very close" to dismissing the related insider trading charge.

"I feel vindicated," Mangan, 48, said in an interview Thursday. "I had done nothing wrong. I was not going to stand to have my good name smeared."

The two SEC charges were initially filed in December 2006 after a regulatory investigation that started in 2002. SEC spokesman John Nester said the agency was disappointed with the ruling. "We're reviewing the decision and considering whether to appeal," Nester said.

Mangan, who was represented by attorneys James Wyatt and George Covington, said it had been a burden fighting the government charges and that he was thankful for the support he and his wife, Francie, received from friends in the Charlotte community. Now a private investor, he said he is considering "a variety of opportunities," including ones in the investment arena, but declined to give details. His hedge fund, Mangan & McColl Partners, closed in 2006.

Mangan first faced public scrutiny in the case in December of 2005 when he agreed to pay the National Association of Securities Dealers $125,000 to settle allegations related to the CompuDyne trade. He also agreed to be barred from working at a registered securities firm. He neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing at the time.

On Thursday, Mangan's spokeswoman issued a statement saying Mangan entered the NASD agreement after a Friedman Billings Ramsey attorney advised him to settle to put the issue behind him.

"Mr. Mangan never agreed to the terms of the NASD claim and did not pay the fine," the statement said. "Now that Mr. Mangan has been fully vindicated on this matter and there was clearly no infraction, he plans to revisit the matter because of the circumstances of which it was entered into.