Court OKs ex-Atlanta mayor's sentence

Former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell's appeal to fight his 30-month sentence for tax fraud was rejected Friday by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which said his conviction and imprisonment were reasonable.

Campbell was appealing the sentence on the basis that it was too lengthy. His attorneys also argued that his Sixth Amendment rights were violated because he was not allowed to have the counsel of his choice during his trial.

"We're prepared to continue to fight," said Mawuli Davis, one of Campbell's attorneys. "We're discussing how we move forward at this point. We'll look at all of our options."

Campbell was convicted of tax evasion in March 2006 and has served 11 months of a 30-month sentence. During the same trial, he was acquitted of federal bribery and racketeering charges stemming from accusations that he lined his pockets with payoffs from city contractors as the leader of Atlanta during the 1990s.

His attorneys have argued that Campbell's sentence reflected a "disrespect for the jury trial system," since he was found not guilty of the public corruption charges. But the appellate court said in its order that Campbell is "obviously and mistakenly equating acquittal to innocence."

During the proceedings leading to Campbell's trial, he tried to hire Atlanta attorney Craig Gillen, but the government opposed the move because Gillen's law partner represented one of Campbell's co-defendants in the federal corruption case that targeted several members of his administration. The appellate court ruled that the district court did not abuse its discretion in disqualifying Gillen.

"The district court chose to avoid a situation in which the fairness of Campbell's trial undoubtedly and quite legitimately would have been called into account," the court's order read.

The court went on to say in its order that "it is difficult to overemphasize the breadth and depth of the corruption underlying the case against Campbell" and that Campbell "sought to conceal his crimes and willfully impeded the government's efforts to prosecute him."

Davis called the reference to the public corruption charges "unfortunate."

"Taxpayers, jurors, heard all of the evidence over a very lengthy trial and they came back with an acquittal," Davis said. "That's the reality of it but it continues to be cast in this light of that he still in some way should be remorseful for what he was acquitted of."

Campbell is scheduled to be released from federal prison on Oct. 25, 2008.

"Given what the Court of Appeals has unanimously said today, we need say no more about this case," said U.S. Attorney David Nahmias. "We simply ask all those who have followed the case over the years to read the court's opinion."

(This version CORRECTS style of appeals court name and 'Sixth Amendment.')