She said Blagojevich calls home every night from prison, and the family has made 20 trips to Colorado to visit him.
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A judge had upheld the sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blegojevich. How much punishment does he deserve?
U.S. District Judge James Zagel maintained that Blagojevich was guilty of corruption, despite an appeals court decision past year to throw out five of the 18 counts for which he was initially convicted.
The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals past year tossed convictions tied Blagojevich’s bid to win a White House appointment for appointing someone to Obama’s Senate seat.
“I’ve got this thing and it’s f–ing golden”. “[Inmates] think of him as a good man, but they don’t know him, don’t know him in the context of a powerful politician”.
“The arrogance and anger are no longer present in this man”, attorney Leonard Goodman told Zagel. “I would like to express our thanks to everyone who has reached out to us with well wishes and prayers and thoughts hoping that today was going to go differently than what it did”.
Prosecutors say his original prison sentence should remain in place.
Blagojevich’s younger daughter, 13-year-old Annie, told the judge that she nearly doesn’t want to grow up because she wants to wait for her father to come home from prison.
He said his time behind bars “has put me closer to God”. “In fact, he’s willing to put his life on hold for me”. The judge had already left the courtroom. He’s slated for release in 2024, which is probably enough time to learn to play an instrument. His youngest child, Annie, will also be an adult by that time. “Please give Annie the chance for a normal happy childhood, that has slipped away for Amy”, she wrote. “What I suggest is the case you have before you is significantly different from the case in 2011”, he said.
It’s possible the Blagojevich legal team will appeal the sentence.
The wife of Rod Blagojevich is asking a federal judge for leniency ahead of a ruling on whether to reduce the 14-year prison term of the former IL governor. “We find his sentence unusually cruel and heartless and unfair”. She said their children have suffered enough. Blagojevich has served four years.
Earlier this year, though, the U.S. The appeals court said in its ruling last year that Blagojevich wasn’t necessarily entitled to a lower sentence, adding that the 14-year term fell below what federal guidelines recommended. The appeals court upheld others relating to soliciting campaign contributions for naming someone to the empty seat.
“I recognize my words and actions led me here”, he told the court. “I’ve made many mistakes”, he said via a closed-circuit television feed from his prison in Colorado.
Zagel said he does not doubt Rod Blagojevich cares about his family, but said the fault for his crimes lies with the former governor. “The problem for the government is there really isn’t a comparable case they can point to”.
Blagojevich’s defense has asked for his sentence to be reduced to five years.
Before trial, Blagojevich described the prosecution as “a political lynch mob”.
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”.
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Zagel said he was sympathetic to the Blagojevich family, but that he remained convinced the length of the sentence was appropriate.
