Politics

Blagojevich Files Paperwork Asking Trump To Commute Sentence

/ CBS Colorado

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois' imprisoned ex-governor, Rod Blagojevich, has filed paperwork asking President Donald Trump to commute his 14-year prison term for corruption that included seeking to sell an appointment to the Senate seat Barack Obama vacated to become president.
Blagojevich is currently a resident of the Englewood Federal Prison in Littleton. He arrived in Colorado in 2012 waving to people and even making a stop at a local restaurant just before turning himself in to serve his original sentence.
A spokesman for Blagojevich's lawyers told the Chicago Tribune it was submitted Tuesday to the Department of Justice. The Chicago Sun-Times reports the paperwork is a formality and that Trump doesn't necessarily require it to act.

Trump last week broached the possibility of freeing the 61-year-old, suggesting the one-time "Celebrity Apprentice" contestant was convicted for "being stupid." But many Illinois voters regarded Blagojevich's corruption as brazen. His convictions included attempting to extort a children's hospital.

Blagojevich's wife, Patti, recently went on a media blitz to encourage Trump to intervene to reduce her husband's sentence.

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First published on June 5, 2018 / 3:16 PM MDT

© 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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