Bencivengo said in a court filing that he wants to appeal but is “financially unable to pay the filing fee.”
HAMILTON — Former mayor John Bencivengo has filed notice that he intends to appeal his conviction and sentencing on federal corruption charges.
In a letter to the federal court filed Thursday, Bencivengo said he wants to file the appeal but is “financially unable to pay the filing fee.”
Jerome Ballarotto, the attorney who represented Bencivengo in the trial, said he will also represent him on appeal. Initially Bencivengo applied for free representation for a federal public defender.
Ballarotto declined to comment about how Bencivengo was able to retain his representation for the appeal.
Bencivengo was sentenced on March 13 to three years and two months in federal prison. He was found guilty by a jury in November of soliciting $12,400 in bribes from the Hamilton school district’s former insurance broker Marliese Ljuba in exchange for a promise to influence the board's contracting process. He resigned as mayor the day after the conviction.
Ballarotto said he and Bencivengo will be reviewing the record to look for errors that may have occurred during trial, which will take several months.
"There are legal issues here as to whether or not (Bencivengo) receiving money form (Ljuba) constitutes a crime under the law," Ballarotto said.
During the trial, Ballarotto argued that the money Bencivengo received from Ljuba was a loan between friends.
A federal court clerk responded to Bencivengo on Friday with a request that he pay the $455 filing fee for the notice of appeal “immediately.”
In addition to the prison time, Bencivengo was ordered earlier this month to pay fines and restitution totaling $10,900. He was sentenced to three years of supervised release after his prison term ends and was barred from holding public office again.
Editor's note: This story has been updated to include comments from Jerome Ballarotto.
Previous coverage:
• Former Hamilton mayor John Bencivengo's intermediary for bribes is sentenced to 18 months in prison
• Former Hamilton mayor John Bencivengo to report to prison in April
• Former Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo gets 3 years in prison, fined for bribery
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