ENVER (AP) _

It was the third time the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had
considered a sentence for David Wittig, the Topeka-based utility's
former chief executive officer. The three-judge panel rejected
earlier sentences of 51 and 60 months as too harsh.

But it ruled on Tuesday that while the 24-month term was above
the six months it had suggested, it believed U.S. District Judge
Julie Robinson provided justification for the longer sentence.

Wittig was convicted in 2003 of lending $1.5 million to former
Topeka bank president Clinton Odell Weidner II, then helping him
hide the transaction from bank and federal officials.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)