(Jacques Billeaud | AP file photo) In this Nov. 5, 2019, file photo, is then-Maricopa County Assessor Paul Petersen, right, and his attorney, Kurt Altman, as they leave a court hearing in Phoenix. Petersen, who has acknowledged running an illegal adoption scheme in Arizona, Arkansas and Utah, has appealed the 6-year sentence he received after pleading guilty in Arkansas to conspiring to smuggle humans. He is awaiting sentencing for convictions for fraud in Arizona and for human smuggling in Utah.