Ex-Rep.'s False Statement Conviction Nixed for Wrong Venue (2)

Former US Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.) won a US appeals court ruling Tuesday vacating his convictions for making false statements to federal investigators, because he was tried in the wrong place.

A Los Angeles federal court jury last year had found the ex-congressman guilty of lying to FBI about the source of a $30,000 campaign contribution funneled to a fundraiser in that city. He announced his resignation two days later and said he planned to appeal.

A unanimous three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed that verdict, noting that the alleged false statements were ...