PHILADELPHIA _ Former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah's chances of staving off the start of his 10-year sentence dimmed Thursday as a federal appellate court denied his bid to stay out of prison while he seeks to overturn his corruption conviction.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit denied Fattah's request, along with similar pleas from two of his co-defendants, with a terse, one-page order that offered no explanation for their decision.
Fattah, a West Philadelphia Democrat who served nearly two decades in Congress, is set to report Jan. 25 to begin serving his sentence.
"We are disappointed in the court's ruling," said Mark Lee, one of Fattah's attorneys. It was not immediately clear whether the former congressman would attempt to appeal the decision.
Fattah, 60, was convicted last year of rallying staff members and political allies in five schemes to misuse taxpayer money, federal grant funds and gifts from wealthy fund-raisers to pay off his personal and political debts.
His son, Chaka Fattah Jr., is serving a five-year sentence in a federal prison in Michigan on unrelated bank and tax fraud charges.
