Ex-Governor of Virginia and Wife Plead Not Guilty to Corruption Former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, second from right, and his wife, Maureen, center, after appearing in federal court in Richmond, Va., on Friday. Mark Wilson/Getty Images RICHMOND, Va. - Former Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia and his wife, Maureen, emerged hand in hand from federal court after pleading not guilty on Friday to corruption charges that could send them to prison for more than 20 years if they are convicted. Two of their daughters accompanied them, along with a contingent of Republican members of the legislature and former officials of Mr. McDonnell's administration. As Judge James Spencer set trial for July 28, he asked the McDonnells if they were taking any medications. Mr. McDonnell said he took Lipitor; his wife, an anti-anxiety drug. At an earlier bond hearing, where they were released on their own recognizance, a judge warned the prosecutors and defense lawyers not to speak to the news media. The journalists massed outside the United States courthouse coaxed Mr. McDonnell to say only that he felt "blessed" to be surrounded by supporters. The proceedings were a formality, and the McDonnells have had little chance to respond in detail to the 43-page indictment, with its details of Rolex watches, fancy golf clubs and Louis Vuitton shoes that prosecutors say they accepted from a Virginia businessman in trade for helping his company. But the outlines of the couple's defense are emerging in court motions Mr. McDonnell's lawyers filed this week and in a statement he made after being charged. The former governor maintains he did nothing for the businessman, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., that he would not have done for any other Virginia entrepreneur. His legal team argues that prosecutors have stretched anticorruption laws to cover "routine political courtesies." Mr. McDonnell has apologized for what he said was his poor judgment in accepting more than $160,000 in loans, golf outings and designer clothes that Mr. Williams gave him and his family. But Mr. McDonnell's lawyers insist that the ways he and his wife helped Mr. Williams's company, Star Scientific, were routine. The couple hosted an Executive Mansion lunch for the company and attended a health care reception at the mansion that included Star Scientific representatives; and the governor set up meetings with Mr. Williams and administration health officials, "who gave Star nothing but a little of their time," the defense lawyers said in a court motion. Experts on corruption law said prosecutors do not have to show that Mr. Williams received state contracts, or that the McDonnells promised specific benefits in return for his gifts. "They don't have to prove an explicit quid pro quo," said Josh Berman, a former prosecutor of corruption cases in the Justice Department. The McDonnells are charged with "honest services" fraud, a lesser charge than bribery. It requires that prosecutors show only "a connection between the goodies, the loans and the official action," Mr. Berman said. The indictment is largely a detailed timeline of Mr. Williams's gifts and what the McDonnells did to promote a dietary supplement he made, Anatabloc. In May 2011, as Mr. Williams wrote a check to help pay for the wedding of the McDonnells" middle daughter and advanced them a $50,000 loan, the governor considered flying to Florida for a Star Scientific promotion, emails show, though he backed out because of "some Dad commitments that day." Ms. McDonnell made the trip instead, just days before the wedding. The long list of gifts the McDonnells accepted paints a more damning picture, said Daniel Richman, a law professor at Columbia. "When you return to the same well time and again, it certainly suggests that you have a clear expectation that you will get money and what's in the giver's mind," he said. The defense lawyers, addressing charges that the McDonnells lied by omitting debts to Mr. Williams of at least $120,000 on loan applications, contend it was an oversight. Most significant, the lawyers seek to undermine the credibility of Mr. Williams, who is the government's star witness. The 14-count indictment repeatedly narrates events from Mr. Williams's view, describing Ms. McDonnell's requests to him for designer clothing, a Rolex watch to give to her husband, and cash. The lawyers for the McDonnells will most likely contend that Mr. Williams is betraying his former friends to save himself and his company from prosecution, legal experts said. Mr. Williams has not been charged in the case. Filings from Mr. McDonnell's lawyers said the government case was "built largely from immunized testimony purchased with under-the-table promises to a key witness."