HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A former Republican congressman on Saturday expressed support for imprisoned former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Democrat.

Former U.S. Rep Parker Griffith, of Huntsville, said Saturday he hopes to influence the president's director of pardons to free Siegelman, al.com reported. Griffith said Siegelman was "unjustly convicted and sentenced."

Siegelman was convicted on corruption charges in 2006. He's in federal prison in Louisiana.

Griffith was elected to Congress in 2009 as a Democrat and changed parties during his term. He said many Republicans and Democrats feel Siegelman's conviction was politically motivated.

"It was a revenge deal," he said. "He was the last Democrat who could challenge a Republican and win."

Griffith spoke at the Madison County Teenage Democrats headquarters before an audience of about 40 people.

He spoke before a speech by state Rep. Patricia Todd, a Birmingham Democrat and the state's only openly gay lawmaker. She was in Huntsville to speak about the Supreme Court decision to declare the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.