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Matthew Keys, right, with his attorney Jason Leiderman. | AP Journalist asks appeals court for reprieve in hacking case

A journalist convicted in a computer hacking case is asking a federal appeals court to delay the two-year prison term he was supposed to begin Wednesday.

Lawyers for Matthew Keys filed an emergency motion Tuesday night with the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asking that Keys' incarceration be put off until the court hears the appeal of his conviction on hacking charges earlier this year.

The 29-year-old former Reuters social media editor had been ordered to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons by 5 P.M. Eastern on Wednesday.

The filing of the stay motion automatically postpones Keys obligation to report to prison, at least until some further action by the appeals court.

Keys' lawyers contend that prosecutors unfairly shifted focus during Keys' jury trial, zeroing in on Keys' use of a Sacramento TV station's viewer email list rather than what had previously been the focus of the case: the defacement of an article on the Los Angeles Times website by a hacker associated with the group Anonymous. Both the TV station and the newspaper are owned by the Tribune Co.

Keys' defense also contends that the prosecution was based on an inflated assessment of the costs of the hacking-related episodes and that the sending of disparaging emails to the TV station's viewers does not constitute a federal felony offense

"His case raises significant questions on appeal regarding the proper scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act’s (CFAA) damage and loss provisions. At trial, the district court also raised the possibility of a variance because the proof presented to the jury was for a different crime," defense attorneys Tor Ekeland and Jay Leiderman wrote in the motion, which occasionally refers to Keys solely by his first name.

Prosecutors said in a court filing Tuesday that Keys poses an "economic danger" to the community if free pending his appeal, but the defense team rejected that position. The prosecution also complained again about Keys' lack of remorse, although Keys' defense has continued to maintain that he is innocent of all the charges.

"He is not a flight risk, and dutifully abided by the District Court’s terms of release and appeared at Court as required during the three-year period this case has been pending. He poses no danger to the community," Ekeland and Leiderman wrote.

U.S District Court Judge Kimberly Mueller, who oversaw Keys' trial, issued an order Wednesday turning down Keys' bid to remain free pending appeal. She said she was "unpersuaded" that the legal issues to be presented in Keys' appeal were substantial.

UPDATE (Wednesday, 12:40 P.M.): This post has been updated with word of the temporary stay.

Josh Gerstein is a senior reporter for POLITICO.