LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire — US Today reports that Lewis “Scooter” Libby, once the top aide to Vice President Cheney, now will fight to remain out of prison while he appeals his conviction and the 2½-year sentence he received Tuesday.
If his legal arguments fail, Libby will be the first senior White House official imprisoned since the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.
Libby’s attorneys say they will file arguments in court Thursday to keep him from being immediately imprisoned, which U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton said in court Tuesday he’s inclined to do. Walton also ordered him to pay a $250,000 fine.
Libby was convicted March 6 of lying to FBI agents and grand jurors investigating how CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity was leaked to reporters in the summer of 2003.
Now free on bond, Libby should stay out of prison because a “likelihood” exists that the convictions will be set aside, one of his attorneys, William Jeffress, told Walton.
Walton may decide as early as next week on whether to send Libby to prison while his appeal continues.
