Judge James Zagel ruled Tuesday that former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will serve his original 14-year sentence.
Blagojevich made his appearance over a video link from Englewood Colorado to the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago on Tuesday.
Blagojevich was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2009. Judge Zagel convicted the former governor of committing a variety of corrupt acts, including the attempted sale of Barack Obama’s Illinois U.S. Senate seat on August 17, 2010. An appellate court threw out five of the conviction counts against him and ordered that he be resentenced.
On June 27, 2011 Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 of the 20 remaining charges, not guilty on one, and no verdict was rendered by the jury on two counts. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on December 7, 2011 with a total of 18 convictions in the two trials.
Blagojevich reported to prison on March 15, 2012 at Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood, Colorado, and must serve 85% of his term or 12 years. Based on good behavior he could be eligible for early release in 2024.
Two previous appeals have been rejected — one in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago on July 21, 2015, and one in the U.S. Supreme Court on March 28, 2016.
Get updates from The Cardinal ALL NEWS FEEDS on Facebook. Just ‘LIKE’ the ‘Arlington Cardinal Page (become a fan of our page). The updates cover all posts and sub-category posts from The Cardinal — Arlingtoncardinal.com. You can also limit feeds to specific categories. See all of The Cardinal Facebook fan pages at Arlingtoncardinal.com/about/facebook …
Help fund The Cardinal Arlingtoncardinal.com/sponsor
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich at his resentencing https://t.co/SaH9acgbtm (Illustration: Cheryl Cook) pic.twitter.com/Vz8mjZr5gH
— Chicago Tribune (@chicagotribune) August 9, 2016
Sketches from today. #Blagojevich @WGNNews pic.twitter.com/4b7Jox1hJQ
— Erik Runge (@WGNErik) August 9, 2016