Following years of investigation by federal prosecutors, Rod Blagojevich was taken into custody after being woken by federal agents at his Chicago home on Dec. 9, 2008. The case soon turned to scandal and the name Blagojevich was soon to be notorious, not only to the residents of Illinois, but also to the residents of the country at large.
One of four Illinois governors to face time in federal prison, and directly following in the footsteps of his predecessor, former Governor George Ryan, who also committed his crimes while in office, Blagojevich will spend the coming months awaiting his sentence. Once a known Democratic reformer, Blagojevich won, not one, but two terms as Illinois governor, serving from 2003 up until his impeachment in 2009. The son of a Serbian steelworker, Blagojevich worked his way up in society, studying law and marrying into one of Chicago’s most prestigious political families. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
On Monday, June 27, Blagojevich was convicted of a variety of corruption charges, most notably his attempted selling of President Obama’s US Senate seat upon Obama’s election to the presidency. After his first trial in 2010, the jury deadlocked on counts aside from their conviction of Blagojevich for lying to the FBI. Blagojevich spent the year leading up to his trial, as well as the year following, proclaiming his innocence on the remaining counts- even partaking in multiple reality TV shows and making a mockery of his entire situation.
Apart from his stint on reality TV, Blagojevich has been interviewed multiple times, and his quotes have become a major part of the trial and have cost him to lose respect of many who may have once believed him. His frequent use of expletives has earned him more attention, and, one of his most famous quotes, “I should say if anybody wants to tape my conversations, go right ahead, feel free to do it. I appreciate anybody who wants to tape me openly and notoriously. Those who feel like they want to sneakily and wear taping devices, I would remind them that it kind of smells like Nixon and Watergate,” lead him right into his arrest, as the prosecutors had done, and continued to do just as he suggested (Chicago Sun Times).
After a circus of a trial, with Blagojevich attracting attention at every angle, the jury’s decision finally convicted Blagojevich of 17 charges, deadlocked on two counts of attempted extortion, and found Blagojevich innocent on one count of bribery. The major schemes which the charges apply to include the selling of Obama’s Senate seat, the extortion of a Children’s Memorial Hospital executive, the extortion of a horse racing official and the solicitation and extortion of then- US Representative Rahm Emanuel over support for a school grant.
US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, who led the investigation of Blagojevich, had pledged to retry the former governor after the initial trial deadlocked. He has been quoted, calling Blagojevich’s term in office, “a political corruption crime spree” (Chicago Sun Times). Blagojevich – who once claimed federal prosecutors were cowards and liars,” and even went as far as challenging Fitzgerald to face him in court “if he was man enough”- has found his luck shifted and his fate in the hands of Fitzgerald’s team and furthermore, US District Judge James Zagel.
Though his sentence will not be known until sometime in or around October, experts have estimated his time in prison to be no less than six years, and most agree that he will face close to ten, according to the Chicago Sun Times. Zagel, who has publically shown disgrace at Blagojevich’s behavior, must now decide the amount of time the Chicago crook will spend in his new home outside of Springfield – federal prison. Other factors contributing to his jail time, apart from the convictions, include Blagojevich’s behavior, his family situation (two daughters, eight and 14-years-old, and a wife) as well as his ability to show remorse or to prove that any part of his time in office was worthwhile and beneficial to the state of Illinois.