Former Idaho Congressman George Hansen surrendered to federal marshals in eastern Idaho Wednesday after two judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his eleventh-hour effort to avoid immediate imprisonment for bank fraud.
Chief Deputy Marshal Ron Evans said Hansen surrendered about mid-afternoon and was being held in the Bingham County Jail pending orders to transfer him to a federal minimum security facility in Colorado to serve his four-year prison term.
But John Runft, the attorney for the flamboyant 62-year-old Republican, said the appellate court in San Francisco has given him until next Monday to file additional written arguments aimed at securing Hansen's release pending appeal of his convictions. Federal prosecutors will have another week after that to respond.
The appellate judges, Runft said, ''have reviewed what I've sent in so far, and they want to hear more. We're one step ahead of them simply saying, 'No,' right down the line.''
Hansen's initial attempt to stall imprisonment was rejected earlier in the week by U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge, who said he is not likely to win his appeal.
Hansen, who said he has lost 30 pounds since beginning a protest fast after being sentenced, and business associate John Scoresby of Idaho Falls, were convicted in December in connection with a multimillion-dollar check-kiting scheme that left Hansen owing scores of investors $18 million.
Scoresby was ordered to surrender to federal marshals next Wednesday to begin serving his 21-month prison term.
