Supreme Court rejects ex-Illinois governor's latest appeal
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevichs latest bid to shorten his 14-year prison sentence for corruption offenses including soliciting bribes for appointment to the Senate seat that Barack Obama vacated after being elected president in 2008.
The justices left in place a lower court ruling that rejected Blagojevichs arguments that he deserved leniency because he has been a model prisoner in the years he has already spent in federal prison and because some counts in his original 2011 conviction had been thrown out.
Blagojevich, 61, was convicted on charges including wire fraud, extortion and soliciting bribes while governor. He served from January 2003 to January 2009, when the Illinois Senate removed him from office. Blagojevich began serving his sentence in 2012.
Prosecutors said Blagojevich, a Democrat and former contestant on President Donald Trumps Celebrity Apprentice reality TV show, solicited campaign contributions in exchange for raising pediatric healthcare reimbursement rates and legislation supporting his states horse racing industry. Blagojevich also tried to sell or trade the Senate seat that Obama vacated after winning the 2008 U.S. presidential election, prosecutors said.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-blagojevich/supreme-court-rejects-ex-illinois-governors-latest-appeal-idUSKBN1HN1VU
Rot in prison you bastard.
ANY elected official who uses his office for personal gain should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law and and should serve their full sentence. (Are you seeing this Spanky?)
YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)Joe Nation
(963 posts)They simply made an example out of this guy. He did nothing different than every politician in the country still doing. He was just stupid enough to get caught red-handed.
Had he been a Rethug, he'd be collecting a million a year in some part-time K Street lobbying gig.
apnu
(8,759 posts)Illinois has the dubious honor of having back-to-back governors in jail at the same time.
rockfordfile
(8,709 posts)But of course we have un-American republicans like Trump and Rove not locked up.
machoneman
(4,016 posts)but perhaps if they did shorten his sentence, he could for say an equal number of years spend perhaps 10 hours every week representing prisoners with appeals or some other worthwhile public service work. Say 500 hours annually for 10 years.