Former Knox County judge Richard Baumgartner lost most of his appeal.
A federal jury convicted the former judge in November 2012 on five counts of misprision of a felony, which essentially means that Baumgartner knew about a felony but lied to cover it up.
The convictions against Baumgartner stemmed from a relationship he had with Deena Castleman, who graduated from his Drug Court in 2006. Castleman supplied Baumgartner with prescription drugs, and they had a sexual relationship.
Baumgartner filed an appeal for his 2012 conviction to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in May 2014. On Wednesday, a federal appeals court dropped one of the counts but upheld the other four.
A panel of judges Wednesday revoked the first count of the conviction, which accused Baumgartner of lying to an Anderson County judge. Prosecutors claimed Baumgartner told the judge that Castleman was a good drug court candidate. Castleman later testified she was not doing well at the time.
BACK STORY:Court hears Baumgartner appeal
After Wednesday's ruling, Baumgartner's attorney Don Bosch wrote they're evaluating their next steps.
"While we respect the decision of the 6th Circuit concerning Mr. Baumgartner, we believe Judge Clay's dissent appropriately reflects the proper decision in this case," Bosch's law firm wrote in a statement. "We are evaluating our next steps and will continue to assert Mr. Baumgartner's legal position and rights. We will have more information in the next several days."
PREVIOUS STORY: Baumgartner completes home detention sentence
Since his conviction, Baumgartner served six months in a West Virginia federal camp last year, but officially completed his federal sentence at home. He will be under federal supervision until December.
