Feds won’t retry imprisoned Fattah, other convictions stand

PHILADELPHIA – Federal prosecutors say they won’t retry former U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah on bribery charges following an appeals court ruling overturning some of his convictions.

But The Philadelphia Inquirer reports that the decision announced Wednesday doesn’t mean the 62-year-old Fattah will get out of prison any sooner.

The Philadelphia Democrat is serving multiple decadelong sentences on convictions including racketeering, fraud and obstruction. The former state lawmaker spent two decades in Congress before his 2016 convictions.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned four bribery convictions, citing in part a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that narrowed the definition of political graft.

Prosecutors said that since Fattah is already serving multiple concurrent 10-year terms, “it is in the interests of justice to dismiss” the bribery counts.

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Information from: The Philadelphia Inquirer, http://www.inquirer.com