SEATTLE -- A Seattle jury Monday said it was deadlocked in the case of three officers accused of assaulting a man they intended to use as a drug informant.

King County deputies George Alvarez and James Keller and Des Moines officer Barron Baldwin were charged with unlawful imprisonment and fourth-degree assault.

After a month-long trial and four days of deliberations, the jury said it was deadlocked 8-4 on five of the six counts, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reported. Jurors agreed to acquit James Keller on the charge of fourth-degree assault.

Officers would have faced the loss of their jobs and up to three months in jail if they had been convicted.

King County prosecutors said they used pepper spray and punched and slapped a man in October of last year and threatened to throw him in the Green River.

The officers said the man was associated with a gang called Sons of Samoa that had threatened to kill police after a shootout left a gang member dead.

Defense lawyers said the officers couldn't be convicted of false imprisonment because there was an arrest warrant out for the man. Lawyers also denied the officers used excessive force.

It wasn't immediately known whether prosecutors would re-try the case.