Jailed Blagojevich loses bluster

The Rod Blagojevich who once challenged a prosecutor to face him like a man and the glad-handing politician who took to celebrity TV shows to profess his innocence was nowhere to be found as he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption.

Frowning and pulling nervously at his tie, the disgraced former Illinois governor seemed like another person as he stepped up to the address the sentencing judge yesterday.

His bluster, once as conspicuous as his famously lavish head of dark hair, wiped out since his June convictions on charges that included attempting to sell President Barack Obama’s US Senate seat.

In a low voice, the two-term Democrat apologised again and again, telling Judge James Zagel he had made “terrible mistakes”.

“I caused it all. I’m not blaming anybody,” Blagojevich said, trying with uncharacteristic humility to avert severe punishment. “I was the governor and I should have known better and I am just so incredibly sorry.”

But it was not enough for Judge Zagel, who gave the 54-year-old a sentence close to the 15-20 years prosecutors had sought.

“The abuse of the office of governor is more damaging than the abuse of any other office, except the president’s,” he said.

“Whatever good things you did for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers ... to do things that were only good for yourself.”

Blagojevich slumped forward in his chair – momentarily frozen as the judge pronounced the sentence. Moments later, his wife Patti fell into his arms; when he pulled back from their embrace, he brushed tears from her cheek.

Illinois governors have gone bad with stunning frequency. Four of the last nine have been sentenced to prison, including Blagojevich’s predecessor, George Ryan, who remains behind bars.

Blagojevich, who received more than twice as much time as any of other governors, was also more of a national spectacle – both because of the charges against him, and how he responded to them.

In the most notorious of the FBI wiretaps that sealed his fate, Blagojevich is heard crowing that his chance to name someone to Obama’s Senate seat was “f****** golden” and he wouldn’t let it go “for f****** nothing”. His lawyers claimed the comments were simply “musings”, but jurors and the judge agreed they were evidence of a crime.

The jury also found that Blagojevich demanded a 50,000-dollar donation from the head of a children’s hospital in return for increased state support, and extorted 100,000 dollars in donations from two horse racing tracks and a racing executive in exchange for quick approval of legislation the tracks wanted.

Blagojevich responded to his December 9 2008, arrest with defiance, appointing Roland Burris to the senate job he was accused of trying to sell and proclaiming his innocence with a media blitz.

It took two trials for prosecutors to snare Blagojevich. His first ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts – that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion.

Yesterday Blagojevich licked his lips nervously as he stepped up to address the judge.

“My life is ruined,” he said. Accentuating each of the next seven words, he added: “I have nobody to blame but myself.”

He offered more than half a dozen apologies to, among others, his former colleagues and to his former constituents across Illinois. But he stopped, seemingly to gather his composure, when he said that he also owed an apology to his family – including his two daughters, 15-year-old Amy and Annie, eight.

Blagojevich, who is 55 on Saturday, was ordered to begin serving his sentence on February 16.

In white-collar cases, convicted felons are usually given at least a few weeks to report to prison while authorities select a suitable jail. Blagojevich is expected to appeal against his conviction, but it is unlikely to affect when he reports to prison.

Most of the prisons where Blagojevich could end up are outside Illinois. One is in Terre Haute, Indiana, where Ryan is serving his own sentence.

According to federal rules, felons must serve at least 85% of the sentence a judge imposes – meaning that Blagojevich would not be eligible for early release until he serves nearly 12 years.