Robert A. Urciuoli, the former president of Roger Williams Medical Center, and another hospital executive who were convicted of federal corruption charges last fall, may remain free on bail while their appeal is pending, a federal appeals court in Boston ruled yesterday.

A three-judge panel of the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote that there were “substantial questions of law” raised by the instructions that Senior U.S. District Judge Ernest C. Torres gave to the jurors before they began their deliberations.

Martin G. Weinberg, a lawyer representing Urciuoli, said that Torres’ remarks were too broad.

“The court’s instruction to the jury, which are pivotal to a fair trial, permitted the jury to convict Mr. Urciuoli for conduct that was not a federal crime,” Weinberg said in a telephone interview last night.

Urciuoli was found guilty in October of conspiracy and 35 counts of mail fraud for his part in hiring John A. Celona, then a state senator, to advance the hospital’s legislative agenda. Frances P. Driscoll, a hospital vice president, was also convicted of one count of mail fraud.

Urciuoli was sentenced to three years in prison, and Driscoll was sentenced to eight months.

Both were ordered to report to prison officials by noon on April 2. Now, they can remain free until their appeal is resolved, which could take up to a year.

The language in question was a description Torres gave of the “theft of honest services” law as it related to the actions of Celona.

Torres told the jurors that honest services include “other actions that the official takes in an official capacity …what he does under the cloak of his office.”

Weinberg said that the use of a “cloak of office standard is unprecedented” and allows conviction for conduct having nothing to do with influencing or shaping legislation by Celona.

Celona, who was also convicted of his role, is now serving 30 months in federal prison. He faces an additional 18 months in state prison after his release from federal prison.

Weinberg said that Urciuoli maintains his innocence.

Thomas M. Connell, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said, “This is just one step in the appellate process.”

tbarmann@projo.com