FARGO - Federal prosecutors are asking a three-judge appeals panel to change its mind about overturning the conviction of the founder of a simulcast betting service.

The government has filed a petition for rehearing with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which ruled in March there was not enough evidence to convict Racing Services Inc. president Susan Bala of illegal gambling.

"I'm realistic about our prospects on this," U.S. Attorney Drew Wrigley said Wednesday. "It's a rare thing to expect that the same judges who have ruled against you, will, in a short time span, decide for a new hearing.

"I have an obligation where I think something may have been missed and there may not have been enough light shed on the issue," he said.

Lizabeth McKibben, Bala's lawyer, called the petition the "same old weary argument."

"This is a very personal matter and they (prosecutors) have lost their objectivity," McKibben said. "They're not stepping back and reading the thoughtful opinion accurately and giving it the weight it deserves."

Wrigley called Bala "a very charming, intelligent person whom I don't know at all" and said he based his decision on legal precedent.

"If this was about personalities, she would probably win a personality contest," he said. "It has everything to do with the laws of North Dakota and the federal gambling laws."

Bala, 52, was convicted by a jury in 2005 of 12 felonies involving charges of running an illegal gambling business. She and RSI were ordered to forfeit more than $99 million. The forfeiture was reversed and Bala was released from prison after the appeals court ruling.

"I told Susan just to relax, that this was just another round," McKibben said Wednesday.

The March decision to overturn the case was unanimous and the opinion was written by the chief appeals court judge, making it even more unlikely it will be reconsidered, McKibben said.

In reversing Bala's conviction, the panel said regulations drafted by the North Dakota Racing Commission were vague and said the federal case was "based upon flawed interpretations of state law." The government failed to prove any of the charges, the panel said.

Prosecutors said the three appeals court judges mistakenly interpreted state and federal laws on pari-mutuel betting.

"North Dakota law does not allow anyone other than a charitable organization to conduct simulcast pari-mutuel wagering, including account wagering, thus there was sufficient evidence to support convictions of the defendants," the government petition reads.