Convicted sex offender loses second appeal

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Zahursky, Erik SENTENCE

Updated: March 5, 2012 8:06AM

An Illinois man convicted of driving to Valparaiso to have sex with a minor will not get his sentence cut a second time.

The 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against Erik D. Zahursky’s second appeal, saying in the order that because Zahursky, 39, of Lexington, Ill., failed to bring his current argument up during his first appeal, he can’t raise it now.

A federal jury seated at U.S. District Court in Hammond found Zahursky guilty in 2007 of attempting to have sex with a minor. Evidence showed that Zahursky started chatting online with “Shelly,” whom he believed was a 14-year-old girl but was an undercover officer with the U.S. Secret Service.

He arranged to meet with Shelly in Valparaiso to have sex with her and a friend and was arrested on his way there.

Zahursky was originally sentenced to 262 months, or almost 22 years in prison, but won an appeal arguing that the sentence was too much considering Shelly wasn’t actually a minor in real life. U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano resentenced him last year to 171/2 years in prison.

Zahursky appealed again, this time bringing up new arguments. However, the court said in the ruling that new arguments aren’t allowed.

“Our remand in Zahursky’s first appeal did not give him an unfettered right to introduce any and all new sentencing arguments that occurred to him,” the ruling states.