MADISON, Wis. -- Former state worker Georgia Thompson, who was freed from prison Thursday after an appeals court acquitted her of fraud charges, can have her state job back, according to her attorney.

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A three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals vacated Thompson's convictions on Thursday and ordered her immediate release from the Illinois prison she entered in November.

Thompson was sentenced last year to 18 months in prison after she was convicted by a federal jury of manipulating the state Department of Administration bidding system and giving preference to a travel agency that had contributed to Gov. Jim Doyle's campaign. She has said that she is not guilty and was just trying to save taxpayers money.

On Thursday, Doyle called Thompson's conviction an injustice and said that Thompson is entitled to her former job and back pay.

Madison attorney Steve Hurley, who represented Thompson during her trial in Milwaukee, said that Thompson will decide this weekend whether to return to her job.

"I think she's going to make up her mind this coming Monday. Her overwhelming desire is just to get her life back on track and to be productive. The indications are that she'll probably accept, but we just won't know until Monday," Hurley said. "There wasn't a hint of bitterness in her. She was just very happy to be with her family."

Hurley said he has some theories on how a case so easily tossed out by a federal appeals court got so far in the legal system. Hurley said he thinks the case got through the grand jury because the defense is not allowed to present to the grand jury.

Hurley said that the case got by judges because the law is not clear on cases like this. And he said he believes a Milwaukee jury convicted her because of a building resentment about political corruption.

He added that the jury was selected in a county that had a pension scandal in which an alderman and a state senator were convicted of wrongdoing and pointed to the state Capitol scandal that took down several legislators.

Democrats Question U.S. Attorney's Role In Case

Some Democrats said that Thompson's acquittal raises questions about whether a U.S. attorney's investigation was a political attempt to tarnish the governor.

State Democratic Party Chairman Joe Wineke said the case was weak from the beginning and questioned its timing in an election year. Doyle's opponents cited the case last year in campaign ads alleging corruption in his administration.

Wineke said recent revelations about political influence in the Department of Justice raises questions about whether U.S. Attorney Steven Biskupic was acting to please his bosses.

But two Democrats consulted during Biskupic's probe of the Doyle administration defended the federal prosecutor.

Former Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said Biskupic exercised great caution in pursuing the case.

Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard called Biskupic a respected and nonpolitical prosecutor.