Former Virginia state lawmaker Phillip A. Hamilton, who is currently serving a 9 1/ 2 -year prison sentence on bribery and extortion charges, was denied a new trial Tuesday by a federal appeals court.

“We have reviewed the record and find no reversible error,” a panel of three judges with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit wrote.

Hamilton served as vice chairman of the House Appropriations Committee before voters ousted him in 2009 from the seat he had held for 21 years. In 2011, a jury found that the Newport News Republican steered a $500,000 earmark to Old Dom­inion University, securing a $40,000-a-year position at the university in return.

It was the first time an elected Virginia legislator was convicted of selling his position for personal gain. Hamilton’s failed appeal is a reminder that although several scandals have rocked Richmond in the past year, concerns over ethics in the state government are not new.

Hamilton had been hired as the part-time director of the Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership after arranging for taxpayer money to help launch the facility, which trained urban teachers. He met with Old Dominion officials in 2006, when he was having financial problems, to discuss the possibility of obtaining state money to launch the center. He repeatedly reminded them that he wanted the director’s job and indicated how much he wanted to be paid.

Although three other candidates applied for the job, none were interviewed. Hamilton was hired, although he did not apply. He was paid about $80,000 between 2007 and 2009.

On the witness stand, Hamilton denied offering to get state funds for the center in exchange for a job. He said he was interested in a position at the center before funding was granted, as a way to replace income he would be losing in 2007.

Hamilton tried to hide the relationship. He asked an Old Dominion official to falsely say that he, and not Hamilton, was the center’s director; attempted to persuade school officials not to release incriminating e-mails in response to a Freedom of Information Act request; and told Old Dominion officials not to mention his name in connection with the center to legislative staff.

In his appeal, Hamilton argued that his attorney was unprepared and the judge who sentenced him was biased.

The once-influential lawmaker’s conviction spurred an effort at ethics reform in 2010, but the legislation that ultimately passed had little effect. Another attempt at reform this year was criticized as too weak by Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who established a 10-person ethics commission to try to do better. That panel has recommended stronger limits on gifts as well as nonpartisan redistricting.

Lawmakers are promising to tackle the ethics issue again next year in response to the conviction of former governor Robert F. McDonnell on federal corruption charges.