RALEIGH, N.C., June 11 (UPI) -- Lawyers have asked U.S. President Barack Obama to alter the sentence of a former state lawmaker serving time for accepting illegal campaign contributions.
Lawyers for former Democratic North Carolina state House Speaker Jim Black, 74, say they requested Obama commute Black's sentence, or at least move him closer to his home in Matthews, N.C.
Black's health is poor, and his wife, Betty, suffers from Lou Gehrig's disease, attorney Whit Powell said.
Black, a former optometrist, is serving a 63-month sentence at a federal prison camp in Lewisburg, Pa., following his 2007 guilty plea to federal charges he accepted illegal campaign contributions from chiropractors in exchange for supporting state legislation favorable to the industry.
"He's paid a heavy, heavy sentence, and we're looking for the president and the (federal) Bureau of Prisons to look at all of the 74 years of his life and not just the time that led to his incarceration," attorney Whit Powell told WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C.
Black also pleaded guilty to state bribery and obstruction of justice charges. The bribery charge stemmed from payments to a former Republican lawmaker who switched parties in 2003 to help Black retain power in a divided House. The obstruction-of-justice charge stemmed from efforts to get chiropractors to temper any statements to federal and state investigators.
The prison sentence on the state charges ran concurrently with Black's federal sentence and has been completed.
Black's lawyers had no time frame for when Obama or federal prison officials might respond to their request, WRAL said.
