Urciuoli, who was convicted of conspiracy and 35 counts of mail fraud, was sentenced to three years in prison. Driscoll, who was found guilty of a single count of mail fraud, was sentenced to eight months.

Both had been ordered to report on Monday, April 2, but the appeals court granted their request to remain free pending their appeals.

"He's asserted from the beginning that he is innocent," said Martin Weinberg, an attorney for Urciuoli. "He certainly welcomes the opportunity to have these very important and in some ways unprecedented issues of law addressed in the court of appeals."

The defendants have challenged instructions that U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres gave jurors before they began their deliberations. They said the judge's instructions made it possible for the jury to convict them for conduct that was not illegal.

Weinberg said there were no dates set yet for submitting briefs to the court or presenting oral arguments.

Tom Connell, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Rhode Island, said the court's ruling was just one step in the appellate process.

-- Associated Press