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Former Illinois governor Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years
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The Associated Press
Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, a stiff penalty for the man convicted of trying to sell U.S. President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.
Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich some credit for taking responsibility for his actions — which the former governor did in an address to the court earlier in the day — but said that didn't mitigate his crimes. Zagel also said Blagojevich did some good things for people as governor, but was more concerned about using his powers for himself.
"When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired," Zagel said.
As the judge announced the sentence, Blagojevich hunched forward and his face appeared frozen. Minutes later, his wife, Patti Blagojevich, stood up and fell into her husband's arms. He pulled back to brush tears off her cheek and then rubbed her shoulders.
The twice-elected Democrat is now the second former Illinois governor in a row to be sentenced to prison, and the fourth Illinois governor in the last four decades. His Republican predecessor, George Ryan, is serving a sentence of 6 1/2 years, also for corruption.
Blagojevich, in a last plea for mercy, tried something he never had before: an apology. After years of insisting he was innocent, he told the judge he'd made "terrible mistakes" and acknowledged that he broke the law.
"I'm here convicted of crimes ... ," Blagojevich said, "and I am accepting of it, I acknowledge it and I of course am unbelievably sorry for it."
He told the judge that he thought what he was doing was "permissible," but that he was mistaken, and he "never set out to break the law."
But Zagel gave him little leeway, telling him that he gave him credit for taking responsibility but that his apology didn't mitigate his crimes.
"Whatever good things you did for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers when you wanted to do things that were only good for yourself."
His comments came on the climactic second day of his sentencing hearing.
Prosecutors also made their arguments Wednesday why they think Blagojevich should be imprisoned for up to 20 years, saying he was "incredibly manipulative" and knew full well that he was breaking the law when he tried to sell President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat and shake down people and a children's hospital for money.
A day after Blagojevich's attorneys acknowledged their client broke the law but also tried to paint him as a devoted father and caring governor who tried to help people, Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar countered by saying that Blagojevich acted only for himself.
Schar disputed the defense argument that Blagojevich's crimes were not all that serious, saying actions like shaking down a children's hospital for funding for a month harmed sick children and trying to auction off the senate seat damaged public faith in government.
Nearly three years to the day since Blagojevich's arrest while still in office, the first day of the sentencing hearing Tuesday featured an admission by Blagojevich's attorneys that he was, in fact, guilty of public corruption. For years, the former governor and his team had strenuously avoided acknowledging that.
The defense admission of guilt came as something of a surprise — just days after defense filings declared Blagojevich's innocence.
But earlier Tuesday, Zagel seemed to signal he may be ready to impose a stiff prison sentence, telling the courtroom he thought Blagojevich lied when he testified on the stand at his retrial that he never sought to sell or trade the Senate seat.
While attorney Sheldon Sorosky told Zagel on Tuesday that Blagojevich committed the crimes, he insisted that none justified anywhere close to the 15- to 20-year prison term prosecutors wanted.
Otherwise known for his jocular personality, the impeached governor-turned-reality TV star cut a somber figure Tuesday. He pulled nervously at his fingers as attorneys spoke, pausing occasionally to sip on a plastic bottle of Cherry Coke.
In an emotional few minutes before proceedings ended Tuesday, defense attorney Aaron Goldstein said locking Blagojevich up for a long time would devastate his wife and two school-age daughters.
When Goldstein began reading a letter from Blagojevich's oldest daughter, 15-year-old Amy, asking the judge not to lock her father up, Blagojevich seemed to fight to maintain his composure, biting on his lip.
In another letter, Blagojevich's wife, Patti, asked Zagel to "please be merciful." She began sobbing when Goldstein played a recording of a giddy Blagojevich calling his younger daughter, who is now 8, and putting on a baby voice, saying "Hey Annie!"
Prosecutors have said Blagojevich hasn't previously displayed any remorse and has thumbed his nose at the justice system. But Blagojevich's attorneys said he has already paid a price in public ridicule and financial ruin — proposing a term of no more than a few years.
Blagojevich's sentencing comes just days before his 55th birthday and three years to the week of his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest. The jury deadlocked in his first trial, agreeing on just one of 24 counts — that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery.
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