The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has upheld the conviction of former Bergen County Democratic Committee chairman Joseph Ferriero, who was sentenced to 35 months in jail on bribery and racketeering charges.

The appeals court rejected Ferriero's claims that his First Amendment rights precluded the charges against him under New Jersey's bribery law. The panel said the bribery law does not punish legitimate First Amendment activity, but punishes corrupt agreements to accept payment in exchange for official favors.

The court also rejected Ferriero's assertion that the evidence supporting his bribery conviction was insufficient. Judges Thomas Hardiman and Anthony Scirica and U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas Judge Lee Rosenthal, who was sitting by designation, said the evidence showed he agreed to accept payments from a computer services company, C3 Holdings, in exchange for recommending the company to various towns. The court also concluded that sufficient evidence supported Ferriero's fraud conviction, noting that he concealed his interest in the software company's revenues when asked by town officials about his involvement in it.