Geddings reports to federal prison

Requests for delay, bail release rejected; ex-Democratic consultant will appeal

RALEIGH -- Former state lottery commissioner Kevin Geddings, sentenced to four years in prison on federal corruption charges, reported to a federal prison in Georgia on Monday to begin serving his term.

Geddings was due to report by noon to the medium-security Federal Correctional Institution in Jesup, Ga., the facility closest to his family's home in St. Augustine, Fla. One of Geddings' attorneys, Abraham Ambramovsky, said Geddings turned himself in at noon, and a records officer at Jesup said he was "keyed in" by 12:49 p.m.

A motion filed Sunday night sought to allow Geddings to delay the start of his sentence by one month. Geddings already had asked U.S. District Court Judge James Dever to let him remain at his Florida home on bail during appeals to seek a reversal of his conviction on mail fraud charges, or if unsuccessful, a shorter sentence.

Dever rejected both requests in an order filed Monday afternoon. A spokeswoman for federal prosecutor Dennis Duffy declined to discuss Geddings' sentence or most recent motion, which the government had also opposed.

Geddings, 42, is appealing his conviction on five federal charges of honest services mail fraud, as well as his prison sentence. Prosecutors said he failed to disclose to a state ethics panel that his public relations firm received more than $250,000 in payments between 2000 and 2005 from Scientific Games Corp., a New York-based provider of instant-win tickets and lottery software.

The company was interested in landing the lottery contract in North Carolina.

Last month, Geddings received a suspended jail sentence and a $500 fine for a state lobbying law violation. He accepted an Alford plea, which allowed him to acknowledge that evidence could result in a conviction, without admitting guilt.

In September 2005, Geddings was named to the new North Carolina Education Lottery Commission by former state House Speaker Jim Black. Geddings resigned about six weeks later, on the same day information became public about his work with Scientific Games earlier that year.

State prosecutors said Geddings performed unlawful lobbying work for Scientific Games on May 26, 2005 -- the same day he helped state Sen. Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, prepare for a public debate on whether to create a lottery in North Carolina. The General Assembly approved lottery legislation later that year.

Geddings is a former Democratic political consultant.