IOWA CITY, Iowa — Austin “Jack” DeCoster of Turner, Maine, and his son Peter, of Clarion, Iowa, have signaled their intentions to appeal their convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Attorneys for the two men filed a motion in October asking an appeals court to postpone the paperwork that would send them to prison so they can appeal to the Supreme Court.

A federal appeals court in July had upheld three-month prison terms for the father-and-son egg executives convicted of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce after eggs from their Iowa farms were linked to a 2010 national salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands.

U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett originally sentenced the elder DeCoster, 83, and his son, 53, on April 13, 2015, to three months in prison. He also required them to complete a year of probation and pay $100,000 each. Quality Egg was fined almost $6.8 million.

The DeCosters paid the fines and restitution but appealed the prison time, arguing they were being punished for actions of their employees.

A panel of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which voted 2-1 to uphold the prison term, disagreed the DeCosters were blameless. Two attempts by the DeCosters for a rehearing were also denied. The rulings against them set the stage for the DeCosters to appeal to the Supreme Court.

In their requests to postpone their sentences, the men argued that because their prison terms are so short, they likely would have already served them before the Supreme Court had a chance to decide on the case, which could make the court less likely to take the case.

“A sentence that has been fully served can no longer be challenged,” wrote the DeCosters’ legal team.

The appeals court granted the stay Oct. 11.

A docket search of the Supreme Court last week did not show a DeCoster petition, but the men have until Dec. 29 to file. A decision on whether justices will hear the case probably will take 90 to 120 days after a petition is filed.

The DeCosters are free on bail.

Jack DeCoster, started egg farming in Maine as a teenager but expanded his operation to Iowa in the 1980s.

In 2011, after the salmonella outbreak, the father and son announced they would give up control of the business, which recalled about 550 million potentially contaminated eggs.

That was not the first instance of corporate trouble for the DeCosters. In 1997, DeCoster Egg Farms in Turner paid $2 million in fines for health and safety violations, and Jack DeCoster’s ventures in Maine and Iowa faced other action from state and federal regulators for environmental and workplace violations through the 2000s.

The Bangor Daily News contributed to this report.