Thaindian News

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (BNO NEWS) — Former Illinois Governor Rod R. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison on Wednesday after being convicted of numerous counts of corruption, prosecutors said.

Blagojevich, who is to turn 55 on Saturday, was convicted on 18 felony counts of corruption during his tenure as governor, including his effort in 2008 to illegally trade the appointment of a United States Senator in exchange for $1.5 million in campaign contributions or other personal benefits.

Blagojevich, a lawyer and former state prosecutor, state legislator, and U.S. Representative, was arrested on December 9, 2008, while serving as the governor of Illinois. A two-term Democrat, he was removed from office in January 2009.

The governor was accused of using his office in numerous matters involving state appointments, business, legislation and pension fund investments to seek or obtain financial benefits as money, campaign contributions, and employment for himself and others, in exchange for official actions, including trying to leverage his authority to appoint a United States Senator to replace then President-Elect Barack Obama.

In the summer of 2010, Blagojevich went to trial and was convicted of lying to FBI agents when he falsely told them in an interview on March 16, 2005, that he did not track, or want to know, who contributed to him or how much money they contributed to him, but the jury was deadlocked on all remaining counts.

During trial, prosecutors relied heavily on wiretap tapes in which Blagojevich spew profanity and speculated about getting a Cabinet job in exchange for the Senate seat. His attorneys, however, said he was a big talker but never actually engaged in corruption.

Earlier this year, Blagojevich was convicted on 17 additional counts, including 10 counts of wire fraud, two counts of attempted extortion, two counts of conspiracy to commit extortion, one count of soliciting bribes, and two counts of conspiracy to solicit and accept bribes.

Blagojevich was sentenced for shaking down the chief executive of a children’s hospital for $25,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for implementing an increase to pediatric reimbursement rates. In addition, he was sentenced for holding up the signing of a bill to benefit the Illinois horse racing industry in an attempt to illegally obtain $100,000 in campaign contributions and lying to the FBI in 2005.

After a two-day hearing, U.S. District Judge James Zagel imposed the 14-year sentence, stating that “the harm here is not measured in the value of money or property… the harm is the erosion of public trust in government.”

Blagojevich was ordered to surrender to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons on February 16, 2012, to begin serving his sentence. The prison term is the longest-ever imposed on a former governor in the Northern District of Illinois.

The judge also imposed a fine of $20,000 and two years of supervised release after completing his prison term. Blagojevich also must pay a special assessment of $1,800, or $100 on each count of conviction.

“Blagojevich betrayed the trust and faith that Illinois voters placed in him, feeding great public frustration, cynicism and disengagement among citizens,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “People have the right to expect that their elected leaders will honor the oath they swear to, and this sentence shows that the justice system will stand up to protect their expectations.”