A lawyer for former Quebec construction mogul Tony Accurso is appealing his client's conviction on fraud and corruption charges as well as his four-year prison sentence.
Marc Labelle is also asking for Accurso to be released from custody pending the appeals.
The Crown countered in court today that allowing Accurso out of prison would undermine the public's confidence in the judicial system.
A decision on the release request is expected this week.
Accurso, 66, was sentenced last week after a jury had previously found him guilty on all five charges he was facing stemming from a municipal corruption scheme in Laval, north of Montreal.
The corruption scheme lasted between 1996 and 2010 and was run by former Laval mayor Gilles Vaillancourt, who pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges and was sentenced to six years in prison.