Imprisoned ex-Virginia lawmaker looks to Trump for pardon

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A former Virginia lawmaker imprisoned because of a corruption conviction is trying to get a pardon from President Donald Trump.

The Daily Press reports that former Del. Phil Hamilton is asking friends and supporters to help him get a presidential pardon. Hamilton was sentenced to nearly 10 years in prison after being convicted in 2011 of securing a job as director of a teacher training center he helped create with taxpayer money.

He said in email to supporters that he's spent 80 months in prison "for a crime I did not commit." A federal appeals court rejected Hamilton's bid to file a new appeal in 2016.

Trump said earlier this month that he's looking at "thousands of names" of people who could be granted clemency.

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