A federal appeals court has upheld a bribery and extortion conviction for former Cincinnati City Council member P.G. Sittenfeld, in a 2-1 decision released Tuesday.
A jury found Sittenfeld guilty on one charge of bribery and one charge of extortion in 2022, related to accepting $20,000 in campaign donations from undercover FBI agents.
The decision from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals includes a majority opinion from Judge John Nalbandian, a concurring opinion from Judge Eric Murphy, and a dissenting opinion from Judge John Bush.
Nalbandian writes in the majority opinion that the case "comes with twists" and that "the investigation didn't yield overwhelming evidence."
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"[C]ongress and the Court have entrusted juries with discerning between legitimate campaign donations and illegitimate bribes," Nablandian wrote. "We must respect that line even in hard cases."
Judge Bush, dissenting, says the evidence does not indicate that Sittenfeld had "corrupt intent."
"Indeed, one can only reasonably infer Sittenfeld viewed the payment as a campaign contribution and nothing else," Bush wrote. "That a jury could interpret a raft of legitimate actions against an official suggests a high likelihood that an innocent politician could be convicted ... [J]udges bear the responsibility to overturn a verdict when, as in Sittenfeld's prosecution, the risk of conviction for constitutionally protected conduct is too great."
Sittenfeld served roughly four-and-a-half months of a 16-month sentence before being released in May, 2024 pending the appeals decision.
