OMAHA- In late June, former 1st District Rep. Jeff Fortenberry filed notice that he intended to appeal his three federal felony convictions. On Friday, the former congressman formally appealed by filing a 61-page argument stating that he should've been charged in Nebraska or Washington, D.C., rather than in California.

Fortenberry was convicted in March for lying to or misleading FBI agents investigating foreign funds that were illegally donated to the former Reps. campaign. In the Friday filing, Fortenberry's lawyer argues that "venue for a criminal prosecution is proper only in the State and district in which the defendant committed the acts that constitute an alleged crime."

Fortenberry's lawyer also stated that U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfield should have given jurors a more specific definition of the crime of misleading federal agents, claiming that there is no way to know whether jurors convicted the former congressman based on what his team argued was a misinterpretation of the scope of the law.

During the trial, Prosecutors laid out the argument that Fortenberry had accepted $30,000 of illegal campaign funds from Gilbert Chagoury, a Lebanese billionaire living in France at the time of the donation. Fortenberry had previously spoken with Chagoury's organization, In Defense of Christians, which works to condemn the persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East.

Federal investigators recorded a call between Fortenberry and an informant who stated at least three times that some of the money raised in the former congressman's 2016 campaign was probably from Chagoury, making it illegal.

Fortenberry denied knowledge of any illegal contributions during his two interviews with the FBI, and his lawyer argued that the former congressman had bad cell service, that he spaced out during the call, and that he didn't remember the specifics of the call.

Fortenberry was sentenced to two years probation, 320 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine. The sentence is currently on hold until the appeal is resolved.

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