Post by Logan on Apr 24, 2016 23:48:24 GMT -6
Former Gov. Bob McDonnell's case appears before Supreme Court Wednesday
RICHMOND — The odyssey of former Gov. Bob McDonnell's fall comes before the U.S. Supreme Court this week with one more bid for legal redemption.
His legal team will make oral arguments before the high court Wednesday morning in an effort to avoid the two-year prison sentence he has, thus far, been able to delay on appeal. His wife, Maureen, faces her own year in prison in a separate appeal that hinges on the outcome of her husband's case.
McDonnell has argued since his indictment in early 2014 that he and his family did nothing illegal in taking more than $177,000 in loans, cash and gifts from a wealthy dietary supplements salesman who later cut a deal with federal prosecutors and testified that he hoped to get state-sponsored drug trials out of this relationship. Jonnie R. Williams Sr. never got those trials, or any state contract, but a jury saw enough in a five-week trial to convict the McDonnells on multiple corruption counts.
The McDonnells' lawyers have accused prosecutors, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the former governor's guilty verdict, of a runaway interpretation of federal bribery laws. Their defense has cost millions, spokesman Chris Roslan said in an email Thursday.
Read more: www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-mcdonnell-scotus-preview-20160422-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2
RICHMOND — The odyssey of former Gov. Bob McDonnell's fall comes before the U.S. Supreme Court this week with one more bid for legal redemption.
His legal team will make oral arguments before the high court Wednesday morning in an effort to avoid the two-year prison sentence he has, thus far, been able to delay on appeal. His wife, Maureen, faces her own year in prison in a separate appeal that hinges on the outcome of her husband's case.
McDonnell has argued since his indictment in early 2014 that he and his family did nothing illegal in taking more than $177,000 in loans, cash and gifts from a wealthy dietary supplements salesman who later cut a deal with federal prosecutors and testified that he hoped to get state-sponsored drug trials out of this relationship. Jonnie R. Williams Sr. never got those trials, or any state contract, but a jury saw enough in a five-week trial to convict the McDonnells on multiple corruption counts.
The McDonnells' lawyers have accused prosecutors, and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld the former governor's guilty verdict, of a runaway interpretation of federal bribery laws. Their defense has cost millions, spokesman Chris Roslan said in an email Thursday.
Read more: www.dailypress.com/news/dp-nws-mcdonnell-scotus-preview-20160422-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2