A federal appeals court has ordered a judge to re-sentence former Columbus lobbyist John Raphael, who pled guilty and was sentenced to one day in prison in 2021 for accepting bribes from a food vendor in 2014.
Investigators say Raphael, who also served as a board member of the Franklin County Convention Center Facilities Authority, accepted bribes from a food vendor in exchange for a favorable contract with the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
Last week, a 3-judge panel in the U.S. Sixth District Court of Appeals vacated Raphael's one-day prison sentence and ordered federal judge Michael Watson to re-sentence Raphael.
The ruling said Watson should instead follow sentencing guidelines that recommended Raphael go to prison for three to four years.
The ruling also rebuked comments Watson made when sentencing Raphael. The ruling said Watson's comments made it appear he gave Raphael leniency based on his personal connections to Raphael.
When sentencing Raphael, the judge said he and Raphael grew up in the same area and that he was personally acquainted with both Raphael and his family.
The ruling does not say what an ideal length for an appropriate sentence should be but cited case law to guide judges on how to arrive at one.
