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Blagojevich gets no reduction in 14-year corruption sentence

by Nikita Vladimirov - 08/09/16 1:23 PM ET

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to reduce former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence for corruption, NBC Chicago reported.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel said the former governor’s good behavior does not erase his crime and that “the same three shakedowns at the original trial still apply.”

{mosads}Blagojevich has served four years after being convicted in 2011 of trading Barack Obama’s Senate seat for campaign cash after Obama won the presidency. Blagojevich won a resentencing hearing in front of the same judge that originally sentenced him.

Appearing in a courtroom video, the former governor spoke about his family, prison experience and regrets.

“I experience very real sadness when I think of my family and I blame myself for that,” he said.

“I think because of all the trials and tribulations, I’ve become someone who has learned a lot from the mistakes that I made,” he added.

Prosecutors argued that Blagojevich did not learn from his mistakes and still deserved the full sentence.

“Even after four-and-a-half years, the defendant hasn’t taken the first step in rehabilitation,” a U.S. attorney said in court, according to NBC Chicago.

“As long as the defendant is unable or unwilling to accept his actions, there can be no rehabilitation. … These are denials of guilt.”

The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down five of his 18 convictions last year, after the three-judge panel found some charges to be unfounded.

Tags Barack Obama