Controversial former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill filed an appeal regarding his conviction on federal civil rights violation charges.

A jury found former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill guilty on six counts back in October. On Tuesday, a judge sentenced Hill to 18 months in federal prison.

The government said Hill disregarded the detainees’ constitutional rights by putting them in restraint chairs for hours as punishment and for his personal pleasure.

Hill’s attorney Drew Findling maintained that the former sheriff is innocent and filed the paperwork Friday with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

“You can rest assured that this case on behalf of Victor Hill will be appealed and I can imagine and we collectively can imagine that like in other cases…the case will be reversed,” he told Channel 2 Action News after Tuesday’s sentencing.

On Tuesday, the convicted former sheriff showed no emotion as Judge Eleanor Ross told him his sentence for violating the civil rights of pretrial detainees at the jail.

Prosecutors asked for a 46-month sentence. Some of Hill’s detractors said they thought 18 months wasn’t enough.

“I was happy that justice was served, but I felt like he should have gotten more time,” said Terry Lee, a former deputy at the jail who was fired by Hill.

Findling was happy the judge went with a lower sentence.

“We had hoped that there would be no incarceration, but the drastic reduction was a sharp contrast to that which federal probation and that which the U.S. Attorney’s office was asking for,” he said.

Hill must serve six years on supervised release when he gets out. Ross said he cannot work in law enforcement or be a paid consultant while on probation. It seems she did not want him to get out and go back to work at the jail.

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