Fumo's deadline for filing was yesterday, and the decision not to appeal adds a bit of cat-and-mouse intrigue to the legal scenario.

That's because the prosecution has about 20 more days to appeal the sentence, which federal prosecutors have called unduly lenient. If they do file, Fumo would then have 10 additional days to file a cross-appeal.

Asked to comment on the appellate landscape, defense attorney Dennis J. Cogan said yesterday that Fumo's defense team had decided to skip the appeal for now.

"We're prepared to have closure at this point," he said. But if the government appeals, Cogan said, "it's likely we will cross-appeal."

Cogan said Fumo was resigned to a prison term.

He said he had not yet heard from the federal Bureau of Prisons, which will decide where Fumo will serve his sentence.

Cogan said he remained concerned about how Fumo would adjust to prison life, especially without being able to continue using Xanax, an antianxiety medication, and Ambien, a sleeping pill.

"It's going to be a dramatic change in his life," Cogan said, adding that neither medication is available in federal prisons. "That's something that concerns me a great deal."

Fumo, 66, a longtime powerful Democrat in Harrisburg and Philadelphia, was convicted in March of 137 charges contending that he defrauded the state Senate and two nonprofits and obstructed the FBI investigation.

U.S. District Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter sentenced Fumo on July 14 to four years and seven months behind bars, a sentence that triggered hundreds of letters, e-mails, and phone calls from the public complaining that the sentence was too lenient.

With credit for good behavior in prison, Fumo would likely serve about four years, though he also could be in line for transfer to a halfway house toward the end of his sentence.