federal court

A federal appeals court hears oral arguments on whether Minnesota businessman Tom Petters deserves a new trial after being convicted of orchestrating a $3.7 billion Ponzi scheme. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Petters will go before a three-judge panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Paul at 9 a.m. Thursday.

The attorney for former Twin Cities auto magnate Denny Hecker is asking that Hecker serve no more than eight years in prison. Hecker is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Minneapolis on Feb. 11. He pleaded guilty last September to conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud. Prosecutors want Hecker sentenced to the maximum 10 years in prison.