William T. Hudson, III, 29, appeared in court Tuesday with his attorney, David R. Karpe of Madison, to appeal his 2005 conviction on counts of conspiracy to commit murder and arson.

In July of 2003 Hudson met an undercover state agent at the McDonald’s in West Baraboo, only days after ending a prison term for local burglaries and other crimes and while he was living under supervision by a probation agent. In a car outside the restaurant he received an envelope containing $6,000 and another envelope with the names and addresses of people investigators say he agreed to harm or kill on behalf of an inmate he met in prison.

Hudson was arrested moments after accepting the envelopes and his case went before a jury in February of 2005

During the trial a prison inmate, Scott Seal, testified Hudson and an alleged gang leader offered to harm or kill people whom Seal had spoken about angrily. Hudson presented himself as a member of a Chicago-based street gang called the Imperial Gangsters, Seal said.

Seal said he and Hudson communicated through ventilation grills and in coded letters about Hudson shooting Seals’ former girlfriend and his probation agent. Hudson also made comments about burning the Beaver Dam house where Seal’s ex-wife sometimes lived with her mother, Seal testified.

Seal said he was providing information to an agent of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation. Some letters he sent to Hudson were intended to get him to make incriminating statements, Seal said. He said he hoped to gain some advantage in his own criminal cases from working with the authorities.

Hudson told jurors he had made plans with Seal, but was just trying to scam money from him. Hudson said he never intended to kill anybody, but was hoping Seal would provide him with cash he needed to escape probation. He said he planned to go to Chicago and change his name by marrying into the gang leader’s family.

"I was going to go to Chicago the Friday I received the money," Hudson testified. "My intent was to take Mr. Seal’s money."

After a three-day trial a Sauk County jury rejected Hudson’s contentions and convicted him on a count of conspiracy to commit murder and another count of conspiracy to commit arson. The judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

In his appeal motion, Karpe asks that the case against Hudson be dismissed or that he get a new trial. His conviction is "a result of outrageous government conduct" because, among other things, law officers encouraged Seal "to solicit Mr. Hudson to commit criminal acts, including homicides and arson." Hudson’s previous defense counsel failed to provide an effective defense when he didn’t ask the judge to dismiss the case due to the government’s conduct, he writes.

According to court records, Sauk County District Attorney Patricia Barrett argued against Hudson’s appeal. Judge Patrick Taggart ruled there was not enough preparation to take the case forward Tuesday.

Instead, Taggart set a schedule for Karpe and Barrett to submit written arguments on Hudson’s appeal.

No other hearings are set in the case at this time, according to court records.

Hudson had an earlier motion for review of his case rejected by the Court of Appeals last year.