Bob McDonnell’s request for hearing denied by 4th Circuit Court, will appeal

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request for a rehearing on his 11 corruption convictions.

He appealed his conviction but it was upheld by the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in July.

U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer sentenced McDonnell, a one-time rising star in the Republican Party, to two years in prison.

A jury convicted McDonnell and his wife of corruption in September after they accepted more than $120,000 in gifts in exchange for promoting a donor’s tobacco-based health supplement.

McDonnell lawyer Henry Asbill told CNN affiliate CBS 6 in Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday that they will appeal his conviction to the nation’s highest court. A so-called mandate formalizing the result will issue in his case in seven days, and it is expected that a judge will give him a date by which he will report to prison soon thereafter. In its brief order on Tuesday, the full 15-member court said it won’t reconsider that panel’s ruling.

According to trial testimony, vitamins executive Jonnie Williams showered the McDonnells with lavish gifts ” including a Rolex watch for the governor, about $20,000 in designer clothing for the first lady and $15,000 to pay for catering at a daughter’s wedding ” while the businessman was seeking state university research on his company’s signature product. Both have been free while they pursued separate appeals. Williams also loaned the McDonnells thousands of dollars to help them pay off debt.

McDonnell received more bad news last month when Virginia’s Democratic attorney general, Mark Herring, ruled that the former governor could be stripped of his state pension benefits.