A white-haired Blagojevich appeared via video before Zagel Tuesday.
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The high court refused to consider Blagojevich’s corruption conviction earlier this year.
It comes after a federal judge kept Blagojevich’s 14-year-sentence intact on Tuesday despite an appeals court throwing out some of his convictions. He became known through tabloids by the mononym “Blago”, and the Chicago Tribune reported that inmates inside of the prison refer to him simply as “Gov”.
Blagojevich’s fastidiously maintained rich brown hair now has shocks of white since his conviction for corruption in 2011.
In the view of U.S. District Judge James Zagel, however, not much had changed.
Outside of the court, his wife, Pattie, said her husband’s strength will get their family through his absence.
The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals past year tossed convictions tied to Blagojevich’s bid to win a White House appointment for appointing someone to Obama’s Senate seat.
The former governor, who appeared for the hearing via video conferencing, had requested the judge to reduce his sentence to five years in prison. He’s slated for release in 2024, which is probably enough time to learn to play an instrument.
“I recognize it was my actions and my words that led me here”, Blagojevich said.
Prosecutors urged Zagel to impose the same 14-year prison term – one of the stiffest sentences for corruption in IL history, arguing that would send a message to would-be corrupt politicians in a state where four of the last 10 governors have ended up in prison.
Justifying Blagojevich’s existing sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Riggs Bonamici told the judge that Blagojevich is “the same man” he was when convicted, and his actions “further revoked trust in public officials”.
Speaking via close circuit television, Blagojevich himself apologized for his crimes, saying he had been too ambitious.
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“I’m a very different person”, he said, concluding his remarks.
Blagojevich’s brother Robert Blagojevich spoke before entering court today, saying his brother still has great potential.
Before the sentence was read, Blagojevich’s daughters, Amy and Annie, pleaded with the court for leniency.
“Please give Annie the chance for a normal happy childhood, that has slipped away from Amy”, Patti Blagojevich wrote of the couple’s two children. “I am pleading with you, indeed begging you, to please be merciful”.
Zagel was the same judge who imposed the sentence December 2011.
Attorney Leonard Goodman was the first to speak as Blagojevich looked on via videoconference. The first images of Blagojevich confirmed rumors: He is now gray-haired.
In 2015, a federal appeals court set aside almost a third of the convictions, ruling that improper jury instructions could have allowed jurors to convict Blagojevich merely for seeking a White House appointment from Obama in exchange for naming presidential aide Valerie Jarrett to the open U.S. Senate seat. He paid for his own clothes, his daughters’ schooling, even baseball tickets, the lawyer said.
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The judge also said it’s “an unfortunate reality” that Blagojevich’s innocent family members are made to suffer the consequences.
