RICHMOND, Va. -- Bob McDonnell, the former Virginia governor sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted on 11 counts of public corruption, says he will appeal the jury's verdict.
“I disagree with the verdict that was rendered by the jury in this case and that we attend to file our appeal to the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, either later today or in the morning," McDonnell said before scores of reporters gathered outside the Federal Courthouse in Richmond Tuesday afternoon.
McDonnell thanked Judge Spencer for "the mercy he dispensed" during the sentencing hearing and for listening to the witnesses who spoke on his behalf and reading all of the letters of support.
“As I said in court, I am a fallen human being, I’ve made mistakes in my life – I always tried to put the best interest of the people first in my role as governor,” McDonnell said. “Some of the judgments that I have made in the course of my governorship have hurt myself, my family and my beloved people of Virginia. And for that I am deeply, deeply sorry."
McDonnell also reiterated that he did nothing wrong.
"I would also say to the people of Virginia that I have never ever betrayed my sacred oath of office in any way while I served as the governor of this great Commonwealth.”
John Brownlee, one of McDonnell's defense attorneys, said he believes McDonnell is innocent and vowed to continue the fight.
Even after sentencing, McDonnell's team said they were hopeful their appeal will be successful and that the former governor will not go to prison.
McDonnell 's two-year prison sentence will be followed by two years of supervised release.
McDonnell, who also must pay $1,100 -- which is $100 per charge, is scheduled to begin his prison sentence on Feb. 9. McDonnell asked to serve his sentence at FCI Petersburg, a low-security federal correctional facilioty, so that he can be as close as possible to his family. The judge said he will make that recommendation to the Bureau of Prisons.
His sentencing ends the dramatic downfall of the Republican governor once heralded as a rising star -- tapped to give the party's 2010 rebuttal to President Barack Obama's State of the Union, and a fixture on short lists for national office.
COMPLETE COVERAGE: Former Gov. Bob McDonnell sentenced to 2 years in prison
U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer delivered the sentence in a Richmond courtroom Tuesday morning that was packed with dozens of local and national journalists whose eyes McDonnell had first caught while he battled with legislative Democrats in one of the nation's most important presidential swing states.
Moments before his sentencing, McDonnell told the Spencer "I stand before you as a heartbroken and humbled man."
Spencer said he doesn't understand why good people do bad things, but McDonnell's crimes couldn't be ignored -- even if the sentencing guidelines were too harsh in this case.
"This entire case has been tragic from beginning to end," Spencer said.
The decision came after 30 minutes of debate between prosecutors and McDonnell's attorneys over technical issues -- including the U.S. probation office's sentencing guidelines and just how much of a businessman's largesse actually improperly benefited McDonnell.
McDonnell's lawyers had argued for 6,000 hours of community service -- or three years' worth of work. They handed in more than 400 letters, including one from Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine and one from former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, supporting McDonnell's argument that he's led an exemplary public life marred by one incident.
But prosecutors instead sought 10 to 12 years in prison, in line with federal sentencing guidelines, according to the probation office. "After serving as a prosecutor and attorney general, this defendant corrupted an office that few bribery defendants achieve, and then falsely shifted blame for his actions before the jury convicted him," U.S. Attorney Dana Boente wrote in a sentencing memorandum.
McDonnell's attorneys made some gains over technical issues, with the judge agreeing that the bribes he took are overstated and lowering the sentencing guidelines to between 6 1/2 and 8 years.
McDonnell, 60, was convicted in September of 11 felony public corruption charges. His wife, Maureen, was also found guilty on eight charges and faces sentencing on Feb. 20.
In what observers of the trial called a surprise, Maureen McDonnell did attend her husband's sentencing on Tuesday, arriving about 20 minutes after the former governor.
The charges were a result of the McDonnell family accepting about $177,000 in gifts and loans from Richmond businessman Jonnie Williams. The trial was an emotional ordeal that often pitted McDonnell and other members of his family against his wife, who was portrayed as the driver of the family's connections with Williams.
The gifts included shopping trips with dress purchases in New York and more -- the bills for which McDonnell's attorney, John Brownlee, said the former governor never knew were footed by Williams.
"We believe that these things were kept from Mr. McDonnell -- at least the source who paid for them," he said. Pointing to several of the individual trips and gifts, he argued that McDonnell should be sentenced for having taken $69,000 in inappropriate gifts, rather than $177,000.
