Judge denies Blagojevich’s bid to lighten 14-year sentence

The former IL governor has been incarcerated since 2012 on corruption convictions.

Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, disagreed with Judge Zagel’s opinion that Rod was not remorseful for his crimes.

Disgraced former IL governor Rod Blagojevich, with his white hair, wearing a prison jumpsuit, told a federal judge here in Chicago via a video feed, that he recognizes his words and actions led him to his Colorado prison and he apologized, saying he’s trying to be a better man.

In July of 2015, an appeals court tossed five of those convictions and ordered a judge to re-sentence Blagojevich, saying the total number of years did not have to change.

Blagojevich has spent the last four years in prison, but some southern Illinoisans haven’t forgotten his reputation, joking he’s “the jerk with the bad hair”. This time, they expected it would be less, perhaps as little as five years, which would mean he’d likely be released later this year. The disgraced former governor appeared in the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel by video conference from Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood in Colorado, in his first public appearance since he reported to jail in 2012.

The sentence: 14 years. After the sentencing, his oldest daughter, Amy was quoted as saying, “He [Zagel] stole my childhood”. His wife, Patti, similarly begged for mercy in a letter sent to the judge Monday night.

He said his time behind bars “has put me closer to God”.

After the sentence, she called the judge’s punishment “unusually cruel, heartless and unfair”.

When the sentence was read, he simply shook his head and slumped into his seat.

Judge Zagel ignored pleas for leniency from Blagojevich’s wife and daughters in making the ruling.

But Zagel said they had not seen the same evidence jurors saw of Blagojevich’s corruption.

Illinois’ governor from 2003 to 2009, Blagojevich was impeached from office for various acts of corruption – which, according to prosecutors, even included the “auctioning off” of President Barack Obama’s Illinois Senate seat following his 2008 election and attempting to extort now Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

But past year a federal appeals court tossed out five of those convictions. Bribery-related charges were upheld, including selling a Senate appointment to U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., in exchange for cash. Other standing convictions include his efforts to extort a children’s hospital for campaign contributions and his lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Speaking at the hearing Tuesday, assistant US attorney Debra Bonamici countered the notion that Blagojevich is a fundamentally changed man, noting how he has expressed remorse for having made “mistakes” rather than for “committing crimes”.