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US: Judge upholds Blagojevich’s 14-year prison term

By  |  August 9, 2016

A federal judge on Tuesday resentenced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison for his 2011 political corruption conviction, reaffirming the decision originally handed down to the disgraced politician more than four years ago.

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    Blagojevich, who served as Illinois’ governor from 2003 to 2009, won a chance at resentencing last year after an appellate court vacated five of 18 charges related to a scheme in which he tried to use his power as governor to extract favors and campaign cash from other politicians.

    Zagel agreed the original sentence remained appropriate for the crimes Blagojevich committed.

    “Ironically, this is a man who ran for office on restoring the integrity of Illinois,” Zagel said.

    The five counts dropped last year relate to Blagojevich’s attempt to trade the appointment of US Senate seat, which opened up after president-elected Barack Obama vacated it in late 2008.

    Blagojevich offered to appoint Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to the vacant seat in exchange for appointing him to a Cabinet slot. The appellate court ruled the suggested swap — the appointment ended up going to Roland Burris — was not illegal but amounted to “a political logroll.”

    The appellate court, however, upheld charges against Blagojevich related to accusations he tried to extract cash from then-US Rep. Jess Jackson Jr., D-Ill., in exchange for the senate appointment as well as other efforts by the governor to get paid for official acts.

    Even as the panel threw out the charges, the judges said a 14-year sentence was appropriate, if not too lenient for Blagojevich’s crimes.

    Full Content: USA Today

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