MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Attorneys for former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy said they would appeal their sentences in a bribery and corruption case the judge said damaged public trust in state government.

Siegelman was sentenced Thursday to more than seven years in federal prison and Scrushy got nearly seven years. U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller ordered both immediately taken into custody, not even giving them time to talk with their families.

Siegelman attorney David McDonald said an emergency appeal to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals would be filed challenging the judge's decision to have the client immediately hauled off in leg irons.

"Being taken into custody immediately was completely unnecessary," he said. He said defense attorneys would also appeal the length of the prison sentence.

Siegelman attorney Vince Kilborn said attorneys also planned to appeal the convictions of the two men. He said grounds include the argument that prosecutors never proved there was a "quid-pro-quo" agreement between the two men, that the charges were filed after the statute of limitations on bribery charges had run out, and allegations that jurors talked to each other by e-mail during the trial.

"I think we have great issues on appeal," he said.

The judge, saying Siegelman had damaged the public's trust in state government, denied defense pleas, some tearful, to let the men remain free on appeal. He had been urged to grant leniency because of the positive impact they have had in Alabama during their careers.

"While it is true the good far exceeds the bad, I must impose a fair punishment to reassure all that come before this court that justice is blind," Fuller said in sentencing Siegelman.

Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 30 years for Siegelman and 25 years for Scrushy, and chief prosecutor Louis Franklin said they have not decided whether to appeal that the sentences were too lenient.

The two once-prominent figures in politics and business _ Siegelman is 61, Scrushy 54 _ were escorted out of the courtroom by U.S. marshals and not allowed to talk to family members. Scrushy's family cried quietly in the courtroom.

Siegelman was fined $50,000 due immediately, plus $181,325 in restitution to a state agency where prosecutors said kickbacks were made. He is to perform 500 hours of community service when his sentence of seven years, four months is completed.

Scrushy was fined $150,000 due immediately, plus ordered to pay restitution of $267,000 to United Way of Central Alabama. He also was ordered to perform 500 hours of community service when released after serving six years and 10 months.

Both are to be on supervised release for three years when their terms end.

Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted last year on bribery, conspiracy and mail fraud. The government accused Siegelman of naming Scrushy to a hospital regulatory board in exchange for $500,000 in donations to Siegelman's 1999 campaign for a state lottery for education. The defense contended there was no quid-pro-quo or personal benefit.

Siegelman also was convicted of obstruction of justice for trying to hide money given by a lobbyist for a motorcycle. The defense contends it was a legitimate transaction and not as depicted by prosecutors.

Franklin said the sentence "sends a message that the prosecution of this case was a righteous prosecution."

He said it also debunks claims that a Republican political vendetta was behind the probe of the Democratic governor. "It puts to rest all the speculation and the conspiracy theories," he said.

Siegelman wiped at tears as he asked the judge for mercy, apologizing to the people of Alabama but denying he took a bribe from Scrushy.

"Judge, you can decide whether I die in prison or go home to my family. Your honor, I ask you for mercy. I ask you to send me home," Siegelman said.

Scrushy, who earlier introduced the judge to his nine children, motioned to them during his final statement.

"God has blessed me with this family. It does concern me greatly the effect on my family if I am placed in prison," Scrushy said.

Siegelman was a state Democratic Party official in Birmingham when he was elected secretary of state in 1978. He soon became one of the state's most popular politicians, eventually serving as attorney general and lieutenant governor before being elected governor in 1998.

Scrushy founded a small health care company in Birmingham in the early 1980s that would grow into HealthSouth Corp., one of the nation's leaders in outpatient surgery and rehabilitative health care.

He was fired as a $1.7 billion accounting scandal was uncovered, but he was acquitted of criminal charges in the fraud by a federal court jury in Birmingham in 2005. Siegelman also had criminal charges against him dismissed after a federal judge in Birmingham struck down key evidence in an alleged Medicaid fraud case.