Ex-Illinois Gov. Blagojevich to appeal 14-year sentence

CHICAGO — Former Illinois governor Rod. Blagojevich will appeal his 14-year prison sentence for political corruption that was reaffirmed by a federal judge earlier this month.

Leonard Goodman, an attorney for the disgraced politician, notified the court on Tuesday of the former Democratic governor’s intention to appeal the sentence handed down on Aug. 9 by Judge James Zagel with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Blagojevich was convicted in 2011. He won a chance at re-sentencing after the appellate court last year threw out five of 18 charges related to the ex-governor’s scheme to use his political power to sell a U.S. Senate seat that had become vacant after President Obama was elected to the White House and extract other favors and campaign cash from fellow politicians.

At his re-sentencing hearing earlier this month, Blagojevich expressed regret for his actions, and his lawyers provided letters from more than 100 former inmates who said the ex-governor has been a model inmate since entering federal prison in Colorado. Goodman asked that Zagel reduce the sentence to five years.

Zagel, however, agreed with federal prosecutors that the original 14-year sentence remained appropriate for the crimes committed by Blagojevich.

Blagojevich could face a tough audience with the 7th Circuit.

The same court vacated the five counts related to Blagojevich’s unsuccessful attempt to trade the appointment of the Obama Senate seat in exchange for a position in the president’s Cabinet. The appellate court ruled that such a swap was not illegal but amount to “a political log roll.”

But 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. The court upheld charges against Blagojevich related to accusations that he tried to extract cash from then-U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., in exchange for a Senate appointment and other efforts by the governor to get paid for official acts.

“It is not possible to call 168 months unlawfully high for Blagojevich’s crimes,” Judge Frank Easterbrook wrote last year.

Follow Paste BN Chicago correspondent Aamer Madhani on Twitter: @AamerISmad