In 2011, Zagel informed Blagojevich that “the fabric of IL is torn and disfigured” by his actions.
Advertisement
Despite the reduced conviction count, and though he praised Blagojevich for being a model prisoner at a correctional facility in Colorado, Zagel emphasized that the former politician was still guilty of numerous corruption charges – and said he needed to pay accordingly.
Speaking to reporters outside Chicago federal court today (Tuesday), former IL first lady Patti Blagojevich says she found US District Judge James Zagel’s decision “unusually cruel and heartless and unfair”.
Inside the courtroom, both of his daughters burst into tears. It was the 59-year-old’s first public appearance since he entered prison in 2012. U.S. District Judge James Zagel had left the courtroom by then.
Before the hearing, most of the reporters at the courthouse figured Zagel would shave a year off Blagojevich’s sentence, two years tops, in a nod to the federal appeals court that knocked out some of the charges on which he was convicted.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, Blagojevich is scheduled for release in May of 2024.
“Once again unfortunately, I have to express our profound disappointment in the ruling by Judge Zagel”, Pattie Blagojevich said, standing with daughters Amie and Annie.
Speaking at the hearing Tuesday, assistant USA 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”.
“This can be a beginning to make amends for the past”, he said while looking directly into the camera.
But Zagel said they had not seen the same evidence jurors saw of Blagojevich’s corruption. “I’ve made many mistakes”, he said via a closed-circuit television feed from his prison in Colorado.
He added, “I experience very real sadness when I think of my family and I blame myself for that …”
I hadn’t expected that to be so, figured instead that a head full of silver would somehow diminish Rod Blagojevich.
Blagojevich pursed his lips, weeping as his daughters spoke in court. His wife, Patti, similarly begged for mercy in a letter sent to the judge Monday night.
“Please give Annie the chance for a normal happy childhood, that has slipped away from Amy”, Patti Blagojevich wrote in the letter. “I am pleading with you, indeed begging you, to please be merciful”.
Advertisement
The former governor’s brother said the judge should have given Rod greater consideration. The first images of Blagojevich confirmed rumors: He is now gray-haired. Federal prosecutors depicted Bad Rod, the same old operator who still hasn’t specifically admitted the crimes that he still hopes the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn now that his resentencing is complete. His children told the judge in the courtoom how their father is a different man.
