Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell won’t be allowed to stay out of prison while he appeals 11 felony public corruption convictions.
U.S. District Court Judge James Spencer, who last week sentenced McDonnell to two years in prison, two years of supervision after his release and a $1,100 fine, issued his order rejecting McDonnell’s request on Tuesday afternoon.
In his order, Spencer wrote that the issues raised in McDonnell’s appeal “do not present a ‘close’ call justifying bail pending appeal.”
The decision means McDonnell will have to report to prison on Feb. 9.
He’ll start his two-year prison sentence just days before the Feb. 20 sentencing of his wife, Maureen McDonnell, who was convicted on eight public corruption charges.
The prison sentence completed the remarkable fall from grace of McDonnell, once a serious enough contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination that he was tapped to deliver the 2010 Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
McDonnell and his wife were convicted of taking more than $177,000 in gifts and loans from Richmond businessman Jonnie Williams. During the trial, McDonnell’s defense attorneys sought to portray his wife as the real driver of the connection with Williams.
