Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Tom DeLay files appeal brief

|
|
 
  
Published: Aug. 14, 2011 at 3:15 PM

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 14 (UPI) -- An appeal filed by former Texas Congressman Tom DeLay says he did not knowingly take part in a conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws.

The appeal also contends Texas' restrictions on campaign contributions from corporations is illegal because it violates constitutional guarantees of free speech.

DeLay, the onetime Republican leader in the House of Representatives, was convicted of conspiring to launder corporate contributions and sentenced to three years in prison. He remained free Sunday pending his appeal.

DeLay's Houston lawyer, Brian Wice, presented his arguments in a 107-page brief last week that the Austin (Texas) Statesman-American said contended DeLay was not party to a conspiracy and, if he was, he did not know it was a crime did not do anything illegal in the first place.

The newspaper said prosecutors have several weeks to file a response to the appeal.

Topics: Tom DeLay
Recommended Stories
© 2011 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Father's Day: Celebrity dads The 2012 Miss USA competition Faces of the 2012 French Open
2012 MTV Movie Awards Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee Notable deaths of 2012
Additional U.S. News Stories
1 of 20
Lil Niqo arrives at the 2012 MTV Movie Awards in Universal City, California
View Caption
Rapper Lil Niqo arrives at the MTV Movie Awards at the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, California on June 3, 2012. UPI/Jim Ruymen
fark
Police believe a mother strangled herself and her son to death, though not necessarily in that order...
Batshiat crazy former employee convinced Dollar Tree out to 'get him' - sets fire to store, destroying...
Some of the world's weirdest ice cream flavors. Come for the octopus and stay for the pink peppercorn...
Nearly half of Americans believe in Creationism, sex in the Champagne Room
Armed robbers break into video store and leave emptyhanded, proving once again that there just isn't...
Finally, a fantasy league for the entertainment tab that doesn't involve Christina Hendricks mudwrestling...