It is excruciatingly complicated. For starters:

"The starting point in every federal sentencing is the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Determining the recommended Guidelines sentence involves analyzing and applying a series of offense characteristics, each of which has a numerical value associated with it. These calculations result in an “adjusted offense level” which, when combined with the defendant’s criminal history, yields the recommended sentencing range expressed in a term of months. (For more on the history behind the Guidelines and how they work, see my earlier post here.)

McDonnell’s sentencing involves the application of Sentencing Guideline 2C1.1, which covers corruption offenses. The probation department has run the numbers under 2C1.1 and came up with an adjusted offense level of 32. For a defendant like McDonnell with no criminal history, level 32 results in a recommended sentence of 121-151 months."


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"The government agrees with these calculations and has asked the judge to impose a sentence within this recommended range.

McDonnell’s defense team contends that, properly calculated, Guideline 2C1.1 results in an adjusted offense level of only 20, which would call for a dramatically lower sentence of 33-41 months. They further argue that, whatever the Guidelines range, the judge should depart from the Guidelines, sentence McDonnell to no jail time at all, and impose a sentence of probation and substantial community service."

http://rdeliason.com/2015/01/05/five-key-questions-that-will-determine-bob-mcdonnells-sentence/

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My guess now is the judge will not depart from the guidelines, that would be extraordinary, and the jail range will be as now fixed in the final fixed range.......years in real jail.

have to file the appeals, file an application for bail and have a hearing before another judge or panel of judges.

But, yes.....he might well be released on bail pending appeal, and the time out before an appeal hearing is likely months, not years, but, again, you would have to ask a Virginia criminal law appeal attorney.