CONCORD, N.H. (AP) – A federal appeals court has allowed James Tobin, who was sentenced to 10 months in prison for his role in an Election Day phone-jamming plot against New Hampshire Democrats, to remain free until his appeal is decided.

Tobin, 45, of Bangor, a former regional chairman of President Bush’s re-election campaign, was convicted in December of two felony telephone harassment charges in the November 2002 phone-jamming case. That election involved a hotly contested U.S. Senate race between then Democratic-Gov. Jeanne Shaheen and Republican John Sununu. Sununu won by about 20,000 votes.

Tobin was scheduled to start his prison sentence on Friday. U.S. District Judge Steven McAuliffe had denied a motion to stay Tobin’s sentence until his appeal had been decided, saying he didn’t believe the appeal presented “a substantial question of law or fact” likely to result in reversal, a new trial or a reduced sentence.

Earlier this month, Tobin’s lawyers appealed his conviction to the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. They also asked the court to allow him to remain free pending his appeal, saying that the government never challenged that Tobin isn’t likely to flee or pose a danger to others.

The 10-month sentence also weighs in favor of Tobin’s release pending an appeal, the lawyers argued. If Tobin is required to go to prison now, “most probably he will have served the entire sentence of imprisonment before this court can decide his appeal,” they wrote in their motion.

The appeals court agreed that he could be released. “Naturally, our ruling should not be taken as a prediction that the district court is likely to be reversed,” the judges wrote.

“I think, eventually, he will serve his sentence,” Kathy Sullivan, State Democratic Party chairwoman, said Monday. “I think it’s just going to take a little longer now.”

Tobin was convicted of helping to arrange more than 800 hang-up calls that jammed get-out-the-vote phone lines set up by the state Democratic Party and the Manchester firefighters’ union for about an hour. He was acquitted of a more serious charge of conspiring against voters’ rights.

At Tobin’s sentencing last month, McAuliffe said that Tobin had led “an otherwise exemplary life” and he was impressed by character witnesses who testified on Tobin’s behalf. But he said the phone jamming was more than just a dirty trick.

“It was a direct assault on a free and fair electoral system,” the judge said. “We’ll never know if the wrong people are sitting in government because of this effort.”

Former GOP Marketplace president Allen Raymond and former state Republican Committee Executive Director Charles McGee pleaded guilty in the case and testified against Tobin. McGee served seven months, and Raymond received a three-month sentence.

AP-ES-06-19-06 1851EDT