Donald Trump

Trump Commutes Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's Sentence

The move comes after months of speculation following Trump's repeated comments that he was considering commuting the sentence

NBCUniversal, Inc.

President Donald Trump spoke to reporters before boarding Air Force One Tuesday where he confirmed he commuted the sentence of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Imprisoned ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's sentence has been commuted.

After months of speculation, President Donald Trump announced the decision as he prepared to board Air Force One Tuesday.

“Yes, we commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich," Trump said. "He served eight years in jail, a long time. He seems like a very nice person - don’t know him.” 

Trump cited Blagojevich's family as part of the reason for his decision.

"[His daughters are] getting into high school and they rarely get to see their father outside of an orange uniform," Trump said. "I saw that and I did commute the sentence so he’ll be able to go back home with his family after serving eight years in jail.”

Trump also pardoned Edward DeBartolo Jr., the former San Francisco 49ers owner convicted in a gambling fraud scandal, and Bernard Kerik, the former NYPD commissioner who later went to federal prison for tax fraud and lying to the government.

Trump had previously said he believed Blagojevich's sentence on political corruption charges was "really unfair," but did not include Blagojevich in past pardons and commutations.

In August, the president told reporters he was thinking about "commuting his sentence very strongly." 

Before Rod Blagojevich entered prison more than seven years ago, NBC 5’s Phil Rogers interviewed the former Illinois governor over lunch near the prison.

At the time, the president said he believes Blagojevich was “harshly sentenced,” and that he wanted to gauge the feelings of members of both parties about a possible commutation.

In October, he polled donors about the move during a visit to Chicago.

“We’re looking at it,” he said. “I feel very badly. I think he was very harshly sentenced, but we’re looking at it very strongly. People feel very strongly about that. I floated it and I wanted to see where the Democrats stood, where the Republicans stood. People feel very strongly about Rod Blagojevich’s sentence. He’s been in there for seven and a half years. That’s a long time and what he did was terrible, but it’s a long time.”

Ex-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared on “The Celebrity Apprentice” in 2010 but didn’t make it to the winner’s circle. Watch as now-President Donald Trump delivered the bad news to Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has served more than seven years of a 14-year prison sentence after he was convicted of trying to sell the Senate seat of then-President-Elect Barack Obama. The former governor has gone through numerous potential appeals and his wife Patti has appealed directly to the president in interviews on Fox News.

Getty Images
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich (L) addresses the media while wife Patti Blagojevich holds back tears at the Dirksen Federal Building December 7, 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty of 17 public corruption charges.
AP
Calling it a “corruption crime spree,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald announced that he would pursue corruption charges against Blagojevich after the governor was caught on court-authorized wire taps trying to solicit contributions and other favors in exchange for the Senate seat of then president-elect Barack Obama.
Getty Images
<a href="https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/archive/Bye-Bye-Blago-Senate-Removes-Him-From-Office.html" In a unanimous 59-0 vote, the Illinois Senate voted to remove Blagojevich from office and installed Pat Quinn as the state’s 41st governor.
Getty Images
The former governor was found guilty on one count of making false statements, but a mistrial was declared on 23 other counts in the indictment against him.
AP
In the governor’s re-trial, he was found guilty on 17 counts, including wire fraud and attempted extortion.
Getty Images
The former governor’s sentence came down about six months later, when he was sentenced to 14 years in a federal prison.
Getty Images
After years of legal wrangling and appeals, Blagojevich reported to a federal prison in Colorado to begin serving a 14-year sentence.
Tae-Gyun Kim/AP
A judge upheld Blagojevich’s sentence, saying that the “fault lies with the governor and no one else” for his punishment.
Getty Images/Archivo
On his final full day in office, the former president issued numerous commutations and pardons, but did not include the former Illinois governor who was convicted of trying to benefit from his ability to appoint a successor to Obama's Senate seat.
“I take it one day at a time,” the former governor told Phil Rogers, saying that his prime focus after five years in prison was staying strong for his two daughters.
Getty Images
“Certiorari denied.” With two simple words, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the appeal of the former governor’s conviction and sentence.
AP Images, Files
“Plenty of other politicians could have said a lot worse,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One as he revealed he was considering “curtailing” the sentence of the former governor. The news came on the same day the president pardoned filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza, and also said he was considering a pardon of TV personality Martha Stewart.
Getty Images
President Donald Trump made his strongest statement yet on the matter, telling reporters aboard Air Force One that he is seriously considering commuting the former governor’s sentence. "I'm thinking about commuting his sentence very strongly," the president told reporters. "He's been in jail for seven years over a phone call where nothing happens, over a phone call which he shouldn't have said what he said, but it was braggadocio, you would say."

The possibility of a commutation drew criticism from members of both political parties, with numerous prominent Democrats and Republicans opposing the move. Even still, others are in support of ending the former governor’s sentence, including the Reverend Jesse Jackson and Representative Bobby Rush.

Blagojevich is prevented from holding public office in the state of Illinois as a result of his removal from office.

In 2017, Rod Blagojevich broke his silence for the first time since entering prison in an exclusive interview with NBC 5’s Phil Rogers. 

"I couldn’t be happier to reunite him with his family - his two girls, and Patti -  who have been waiting way too long," said attorney Sam Adam Jr., who represented Blagojevich. "I could not be happier. The fact that President Trump did this, it makes my Christmas in February."

Blagojevich's brother, Robert Blagojevich, said he's "grateful" to the president.

"He is the ultimate disrupter," he told NBC Chicago.

Though the two brothers haven't spoken in years, Robert Blagojevich said he's hopeful for the future.

"Nothing has changed. I love my brother very much. I hope one day we will be reunited," he said.

Exit mobile version