ATLANTA -- Incarcerated former state Sen. Charles Walker lost his appeal today in a ruling released by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The three-judge panel said that any errors made by the trial court in Augusta were harmless and that his sentence of more than 10 years in federal prison was appropriate.

Mr. Walker, a Democrat from Augusta, was at one time considered one of the most powerful men in state politics. He was convicted in 2005 on 127 counts of fraud, using his political office to gain a sweetheart contract with Atlanta's Grady Hospital and the Medical College of Georgia, cheating advertisers to his Augusta Focus newspaper, and pocketing money donated to a charity football game called the CSRA Classic.

In a 36-page opinion, the court ruled against Mr. Walker on each of his legal arguments.

"Finding no reversible error as to any of these issues, we affirm," wrote Circuit Judge Charles R. Wilson

On the Web: http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/200516756.pdf