President Donald Trump to consider commuting sentence for former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich – The Denver Post

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Joe Amon, The Denver Post

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich poses with Chatfield High School sutdents (from left) Dylan Sorenson 15, Sage Dugas 16 and Bryce Kuschel 15 during a stop at Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers before turning himself in to the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) Englewood just a few minutes away in Littleton, Colorado, to begin his 14-year prison sentence on corruption charges Thursday, March 15, 2012. The 55-year-old Democrat becomes the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption. Joe Amon, The Denver Post (Photo By Joe Amon/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

President Donald Trump may commute the prison sentence of one of Colorado’s most famous inmates, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving a prison term for his role in offering former President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to cronies.

Blagojevich, 61, is serving his 14-year sentence on corruption charges at the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood. He was convicted in 2012 and has maintained his innocence. Trump also is considering pardoning Martha Stewart.

Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Thursday that Blagojevich said something dumb but Trump believed the former governor’s sentence is excessive, according to media reports.

Blagojevich was convicted on several counts, including trying to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich has made the most of his time behind bars, according to his Chicago attorney, Leonard Goodman.

Blagojevich has become a tutor, mentor and the lead singer in an Elvis Presley-inspired group of convicted musicians. At the prison in Englewood, he has led the “Jailhouse Rockers,” a name taken from one of Presley’s biggest hits.

Goodman has repeatedly attempted to get Blagojevich’s prison term reduced. In 2016, he asked a federal judge to reduce the sentence to five years. That request was denied.

In prison, fellow inmates call Blaogojevich “governor,” “The Gov” or “The Gobi.” But the nicknames are in good humor and out of respect, Goodman has said.

Blagojevich has been a role model behind bars, teaching history classes and mentoring fellow inmates about how to be good grandfathers, Goodman said. More than 100 of them wrote letters supporting his early release from prison.



Source : Denver Post