Zagel was unmoved, affirming Blagojevich’s sentence.
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A somber, contrite Blagojevich spoke for 20 minutes in a sometimes apologetic, sometimes rambling statement before U.S. District Judge James Zagel announced the sentence, telling the court he understood he made mistakes.
According to the Bureau of Prisons, Blagojevich is scheduled for release in May of 2024. This is his first public appearance since he was sentenced to prison almost five years ago.
The ruling was heartbreaking for Blagojevich’s two daughters who were heard crying in the courtroom.
Afterward, the ex-governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich, told reporters: “I’m dumbfounded and flabbergasted at the inability of the judge to see things are different than what they were four and a half years ago”.
Blagojevich apologized at his resentencing moments after he grew emotional as one of his two daughters read a statement in court in which she called him “an awesome father”.
“I recognize that my words and actions have led me here”, he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Bonamici emphasized that Blagojevich apologized for making “mistakes” but said he has never taken responsibility for the crimes he was convicted of or shown true remorse. “Trying to make amends for that”.
The former governor said it pains him that his actions have hurt his family and blamed himself for putting his loved ones in that situation. “What I suggest is the case you have before you is significantly different from the case in 2011”, he said.
Amy Blagojevich, also spoke in court, saying it was hard to stay connected with her dad or even to have private conversations with him during visits to prison. In a letter submitted to the judge on Monday, Patti detailed that that the former governor speaks with the family via telephone on a nightly basis. “I am pleading with you, indeed begging you, to please be merciful”.
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”. The first images of Blagojevich confirmed rumors: He is now gray-haired.
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But past year a federal appeals court tossed out five of those convictions. Zagel told him “the fabric of IL is torn and disfigured” by his corruption and handed down a far stiffer sentence than many expected. He paid for his own clothes, his daughters’ schooling, even baseball tickets, the lawyer said. More than 100 fellow inmates wrote letters to the judge describing Blagojevich as a model prisoner who helped others. Members of his immediate family made impassioned appeals for leniency of Tuesday, arguing the former governor had undergone a significant conversion of character while in jail – prisoners say Blagojevich lectures frequently on topics ranging from the Civil War to Richard Nixon, and “The Jailhouse Rockers”, a convicts band with a 21-set list.
