BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A Virginia businessman convicted of helping in a parental kidnapping is asking the nation's highest court to suspend the start of his prison term while he appeals.

The request to the U.S. Supreme Court, which the government opposes, comes three weeks before Philip Zodhiates, of Waynesboro, is scheduled to begin a three-year prison term in Kentucky.

Zodhiates, of Waynesboro, Virginia, was found guilty in 2016 of international parental kidnapping and conspiracy for his role in a same-sex couple's child custody fight. Authorities say he helped Lisa Miller and her daughter cross into Canada near Buffalo in 2009. From there, Miller and the girl are believed to have moved to Nicaragua.

Vermont attorney Robert Hemley has challenged prosecutors' use of cell tower information to prove Zodhiates' whereabouts.

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