CINCINNATI -- Former state Rep. Pete Beck might get out of prison sooner than expected after an appeals court overturned 10 of his 13 criminal convictions.
Beck was sentenced to four years in prison after a judge found him guilty on 13 of 38 counts in June 2015.
But the 1st District Court of Appeals in downtown Cincinnati ruled this week that the trial court made a mistake finding Beck guilty on three securities-related counts and seven perjury counts, WCPO media partner the Journal-News reports.
The former Mason mayor and certified public accountant was accused of defrauding a technology company's investors out of millions of dollars.
According to appeals court's opinion, the alleged crimes that led to the securities-related counts were beyond the statute of limitations.
On the perjury charges, the three-judge panel ruled "the evidence did not demonstrate" Beck's answers to questions by investigators were clearly false, or Beck was answering "a vague and ambiguous question."
The appeals court let stand Beck's convictions on three counts of theft.
Pierre Bergeron, Beck's appeals attorney, said he'd work to get the former lawmaker out of prison "as soon as possible" because, he said, the theft counts only warrant a year behind bars.
Beck is being held at the Southeastern Correctional Institution, near Lancaster, Ohio. As a state lawmaker, Beck represented Ohio's 54th District from 2009 to 2014.
