Peter Pocklington arrives at U.S. District Court for sentencing on perjury charges, in Riverside, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010. Pocklington is confident the appeal of his conviction for a probation violation will be successful.The former Edmonton Oilers owner says in a statement that he's been told by his lawyer that he has a strong case. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Reed Saxon
December 09, 2013 - 12:49 PM
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Peter Pocklington is confident the appeal of his conviction for a probation violation will be successful.
The former Edmonton Oilers owner says in a statement that he's been told by his lawyer that he has a strong case.
Pocklington was supposed to start serving a six-month jail sentence this week, but was granted bail pending the appeal.
In September, a judge in Riverside, Calif., sentenced the 71-year-old for violating a term of his probation on a perjury conviction.
Court heard Pocklington had submitted a false monthly income report to his probation officer — he hadn't adequately disclose a $15,000 consulting fee he received in January 2012.
Pocklington says the appeal arguments should be heard within the next 18 months.
"The 9th Circuit Court in San Francisco has agreed to hear it," he said in the statement. "My lawyer tells me we have a strong case."
In 2010, the businessman was sentenced to six months of house arrest and two years of probation for perjury. He pleaded guilty to the charge and admitted to lying during previous bankruptcy proceedings.
In exchange, charges of bankruptcy fraud were dropped.
Pocklington filed a bankruptcy claim in 2008 stating he was virtually penniless and owed almost $US20 million.
In the end, Pocklington admitted in court that he hadn't disclosed that he had control over bank accounts and storage facilities containing assets and property belonging to his wife.
Pocklington is notorious in Edmonton for bringing Wayne Gretzky to the Oilers in the 1970s and then trading the superstar a decade later to the Los Angeles Kings.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013