A former Illinois state representative sentenced to five months in prison for pocketing a $7,000 bribe is asking for a delay in his surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Derrick Smith, a 51-year-old Chicago Democrat, was sentenced in April after jurors convicted him last year of bribery and attempted extortion for accepting a bribe for supporting a day care center's application for a $50,000 state grant. The facility was fictitious and part of an FBI sting.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports (http://bit.ly/1VcrNMO) defense attorney Michelle Jacobs argued in a motion filed Thursday she expects Smith to win either a new trial or a reduced sentence on appeal. But that process might not end before Smith leaves prison.
Smith's sentence was less than the five years prosecutors sought. He is to begin serving his time Wednesday.
