A federal appeals court Friday largely upheld a landmark ruling which found that the tobacco industry violated federal racketeering laws by deceiving the public about the dangers of smoking.

The court affirmed most remedies that a trial judge imposed against the tobacco companies, but it rejected the government's request for additional penalties against cigarette makers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said there was ample evidence to conclude that the tobacco industry knew about the dangers of smoking and attempted to deceive the public about those health risks.

The appeals court largely upheld remedies imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Gladys Kessler, who ordered a variety of marketing, sales and advertising restrictions on the industry.

However, the appeals court rejected the government's bid to impose other remedies, including a request that the tobacco industry be forced to fund a national smoking-cessation campaign.

The appeals court also affirmed an earlier ruling that the government could not obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in disgorgement from the tobacco companies.

Defendants in the case included Altria's (MO) Philip Morris subsidiary, Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) and Loews Corp.'s (LTR) Lorillard Inc.

-By Brent Kendall, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9222; brent.kendall@dowjones.com