A federal appeals court in Philadelphia on Thursday overturned U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah’s bribery convictions in a decision that offered a small measure of vindication for the former Democratic congressman — but may not dramatically affect the decade-long sentence he received for other corruption-related crimes.
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit held that jurors in Fattah’s case had not been properly instructed on the legal definition of “political graft” – one narrowed by a U.S. Supreme Court opinion issued just days after they convicted the congressman in 2016.
Still, wrote Chief Judge D. Brooks Smith: “There is more than sufficient – and distinct – evidence to support Fattah’s conviction on all of the other counts,” including allegations that he stole federal grant funds, charitable donations, and campaign cash to pay off his personal and political debts.
You can read the 142 pages of the opinion here (via How Appealing).