John Harris, Gov. Rod Blagojevich's former chief of staff, will report to McHenry County jail on May 22 to carry out his 10-day sentence his lawyer said today.
Terry Ekl, Harris' attorney, said the U.S. Bureau of Prisons designated Harris there. Federal inmates sometimes serve out shorter sentences at county jails, Ekl said.
Harris was a key witness in Blagojevich's trial and his retrial.
Patti Blagojevich expressed anger after Harris was sentenced asking what was wrong with the world that sent her husband away for 14 years but saw his underling get just 10 days.
Harris cooperated from the day of his arrest -- the same day Blagjoevich was arrested.
Patti Blagojevich visited former Governor Rod Blagojevich in Colorado prison over the weekend, calling it "one of the saddest places on earth."
"We spent the weekend in Denver visiting Rod," Patti Blagojevich posted on her Facebook page. "He was so happy to see ... us and we were so happy to see him. That visiting room has to be one of the saddest places on earth though. All those little kids visiting their dads. It breaks your heart."
Rod Blagojevich is serving out a 14-year sentence at FCI Englewood Prison in Littleton, Colo.
Recently, his former lawyers, Sam Adam and Sam Adam Jr. visited the former governor, and reported that he looked tan and had put on at least five pounds of weight from working out.
Patti Blagojevich's Facebook posting got more than 300 "likes" and more than 100 comments.
Said one well-wisher: "(Ultimately), it doesn't matter where you all got together, you were together. That is what matters!"
Another wrote:
"The heartbreaking thing really is that the kids have to see their dads in a place like that. Just saying."
Rod Blagojevich was convicted of 18 federal corruption charges, including attempting to sell President Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.
The longtime federal witness whose testimony has brought down some of the biggest names in Illinois, is finally scheduled to be sentenced.
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Tuesday set a June 28 sentencing date for Stuart Levine, who testified in the trials of political fixer Tony Rezko and Downstate powerbroker William Cellini. Both Rezko and Cellini were convicted at their trials.
She also scheduled a Sept. 7 sentencing date for Steve Loren, the onetime attorney for the Teachers Retirement System who has also pleaded guilty and testified for the government.
Levine once sat on two state boards. He is an admitted drug user and serial conman who from the witness stand told of a lifetime of scams and swindles including paying out bribes and extorting others who were seeking state work.
Levine had worked out a deal with prosecutors to serve about five and a half years behind bars. It's a deal that defense lawyers have criticized for years, arguing that Levine will see less prison time even though he pocketed actual money.
Prosecutors though say Levine's cooperation was invaluable.
At Rod Blagojevich's December sentencing Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar called Levine one of the most significant cooperators the Dirksen Federal Courthouse had ever seen.
The ultimate decision on Levine's sentence will be up to St. Eve, who asked prosecutors this morning to include in filings the extent of Levine's cooperation.
Rezko's trial was before St. Eve. Last year, she sentenced him to 10 ½ years behind bars.
Read Sun-Times piece on Levine from last October: How conman took down top politicos in Illinois
It may be at least 10 years before Rod Blagojevich is back home for dinner.
What was the last meal he requested before leaving for prison?
A spaghetti dinner.
Patti cooked the spaghetti dinner using Blagojevich's late mother's recipe. "I'm going to eat so much spaghetti I won't need breakfast," he said after giving a statement on live TV.
In his address, he spoke of how it pained him to not be around to help his wife raise their two girls, Amy and Annie.
For his youngest, Annie, Blagojevich left as a memento two dolls that have the capability to play back recorded messages.
According to someone close to the family, one of the dolls plays back Rod Blagojevich's voice, which says: "Hi Annie, Daddy loves you."
It is no accident that the former governor scheduled his remarks for 5 p.m. prime time TV news. His publicity manager Glenn Selig said Blagojevich is aiming to reach as many people as he can at once.
"He wanted to speak to everybody as a collective. This is the message he's going to be leaving with people. This is what they're going to remember until he returns. This is what he'll remember," Selig said. "I think it's a very important message that he's making and it's a message that he's sending to people."
On Thursday, Blagojevich is to begin his 14-year sentence -- one of the toughest public corruption sentences ever handed out in Illinois. Blagojevich is to report to low-security prison in Colorado.
"He's definitely going to be speaking from the heart. And I think it's an important day, it certainly is for him and the people who have continued to believe in him -- family friends, all of that," Selig said. "It's quite extraordinary, when you think about it, just him doing it. Having the strength to do it. In 24 hours his world is going to be completely changing."
Update:
This is from a Selig press release
"This will be one of the most important moments of Rod Blagojevich's life. The governor never memorizes, does not use a script or a teleprompter. He speaks extemporaneously. He will speak from the heart," says Glenn Selig, the former governor's spokesman.
FAQs regarding the statement:
Q: Will there be an opportunity for the media to ask Rod Blagojevich questions?
A: No. This will be a statement only. This is NOT a news conference.
Q: Will the governor be doing any interviews?
A: There are no plans for any interviews with anyone.
Q: Will you release more information about the governor's plans for departing Chicago?
A: No, for security reasons we will not release detailed information.
]]>"I stand by the motion -- the motion was absolutely filed in good faith," Kaeseberg said. "Frankly, I'm disappointed because I know we filed this motion in good faith ... I'm proud of the work I've done on this case ... I'm actually proud of the motion."
Kaeseberg has been practicing criminal law since she was sworn in as a lawyer in 2008, she said. As a defense lawyer, she would be negligent if she found out a juror may have committed a rule violation and she did not investigate.
"The issue is trying to resolve whether she has something in her possession that we don't think she should have," Kaeseberg said "We are not allowed to speak to the jurors ourselves. The only way we can really resolve it and find out is by going to Judge Zagel and asking him to have a hearing."
Co-counsel Aaron Goldstein added, "Quite frankly We would not be good attorneys if we didn't file this motion."
Asked if they were prepared to apologize to jury forewoman Connie Wilson , Goldstein said, "We in no way intended to hurt Ms. Wilson in any way."
Asked about the "hare-brained" comment, lead attorney Sheldon Sorosky quipped, "I don't know, I don't have a lot of hair."
Goldstein chimed in: "He doesn't have hair - I don't have a brain."
-Abdon M. Pallasch
U.S. District Judge James Zagel took a mere three minutes Monday morning to dismiss a motion by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's attorneys as "hare-brained."
Blagojevich's attorneys sought a new trial based on a report that the jury forewoman had displayed a juror questionnaire in a public talk she gave about the trial. Those questionnaires are not supposed to be taken from court, Blagojevich
Just beyond belief, attorney Lauren Kaeseberg argued.
It was unclear whether the forewoman displayed a filled-out or blank questionnaire.
"The motion was prepared without any adequate thought," Zagel scolded Kaeseberg. "You should seek outside counsel ... and send a letter of apology to the juror."
Zagel said he could hold Kaeseberg in contempt of court but was cutting her slack because she was a fairly new lawyer.
"By the absence of precedent, I assume you couldn't find precedent," Zagel said, calling the filing "beyond my imagination."
Zagel two weeks ago sentenced Blagojevich to 14 years in prison on charges of trying to use his office to enrich himself.
]]>Reporters are off the hook in the effort to secure a new trial for convicted power broker William Cellini.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel dropped efforts Wednesday to compel reporters for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune to produce notes of any interviews they conducted with a juror in Cellini's trial who concealed two felony convictions when she was filling out paperwork to serve on the jury.
Cellini still is on the hook for his conviction of trying to extort money from "Million Dollar Baby" Producer Tom Rosenberg so that Rosenberg's investment firm could get a share of the state Teacher Retirement System pension fund.
Juror Candy Chiles, who has convictions for drunk-driving and crack cocaine possession, was not in court Wednesday. Zagel said she had called his office Tuesday to say she was in the hospital and would not be able to attend.
Zagel suspended the hearing until she appears in court, possibly later this week.
Cellini attorney Dan Webb told Zagel he objected to even having a hearing. He said Zagel should skip the hearing and proceed directly to a new trial for Cellini.
"Under the law, you are not eligible to serve on a federal jury ... if you are convicted of a felony," Webb said. "Why would someone lie to get on a jury unless they have some type of bias? What I want to establish is that she knowingly and willingly lied on these questions."
Webb noted the irony that he and the government are now on the opposite sides of where they were in the trial of former Gov. George Ryan, who was also represented by Webb. In that case, prosecutors got a woman thrown off the jury because she concealed her arrest record.
After Cellini was found guilty, Tribune reporter Annie Sweeney wrote about her exchange with the juror in which Sweeney asked her about the felony convictions and the woman refused to discuss them. Sun-Times reporter Maudlyne Ihejirika also interviewed the juror but there was no discussion of the woman's arrest record.
Zagel ruled there would be no benefit in compelling either paper's reporters to appear in court or turn over notes.
"There's no reason to require them to appear," Zagel said, adding that any additional detail Webb might find in Sweeney's notebook about the interview, which she already wrote about, would be "trivial."
Zagel assured Webb that "having seen reporters' notebooks" there was likely little fodder to be found that would help Webb make a case.
Journalism watchdog groups expressed relief Wednesday that Zagel dropped, at least for now, efforts to compel reporters to turn over their notes.
"We are independent witnesses to the news and not arms of the court -- this is an action not only journalists should celebrate but anyone who cares about a free press," said Stephen Franklin, president of the Chicago Headline Club, the country's largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.
]]>Scott Fawell, the former chief of staff of a different convicted governor, George Ryan, is offering a tip on how Rod Blagojevich can cut his lengthy 14-year sentence.
The former governor may be able to make a request with the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to take part in a substance abuse program.
Fawell said that's what he did before going into prison.
"What you do is say that in between the time you're sentenced and the time you report, you just couldn't stop drinking," Fawell said.
It shaved time off of Fawell's 78-month sentence he received for corruption that happened while he worked for Ryan. He went through a nine-month program in prison, then got six months off in a halfway house plus one year of credit for doing the program. That's on top of time off for good behavior.
Read the rest of the story here: Start drinking
]]>Fitzgerald said that having two Illinois governors convicted of crimes in the same century would be too much.
"We've seen it happen twice in five years," Fitzgerald said, calling it "profoundly sad."
"The public has had enough and judges have had enough," Fitzgerald said. "This needs to stop. To put it very, very simply, we don't want to be back here again. .. the short answer is, this must stop."
Fitzgerald said he felt for the Blagojevich children but noted that it's often the family who pays when a criminal gets caught.
"What happened to the family is a very sad situation," Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald famously said after Blagojevich's 2008 arrest that "Lincoln would be rolling over in his grave," if he knew of Blagojevich's conduct.
Asked what Lincoln would be doing today, Fitzgerald said:"I'm going to be dull today, I'm not going to comment."
]]>"Rudyard Kipling, among the things he wrote was, 'If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two impostors just the same: Patti and I - and especially me -- this is a time to be strong and this is a time fight through adversity. This is a time for me to be strong for my children. To be strong for Patti. This is also a time for Patti and me to go home so we can explain to our kids, to our babies, Amy and Annie, what happened, what all this means, and where we're going from here. We're going to keep fighting on, through this adversity. We'll see you soon."
Blagojevich and his wife and attorneys left without responding to any questions about any plans for an appeal.
-Abdon M. Pallasch
]]>Looking at Blagojevich, Zagel finished, "When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily or quickly repaired. You did that damage."
With that, Zagel sentenced Blagojevich to 168 months -- 14 years in prison. Presuming he serves 85 percent of that, his 15-year-old daughter will be at least 27 when he gets out.
-Abdon M. Pallasch, Natasha Korecki & Lauren Fitzpatrick
]]>"The harm here is not measured in the value of money and property," Judge Zagel tells Blagojevich.
"The harm is the erosion of the public trust in government; [people's] confidence in and trust in government," Zagel said.
• 'Sorry' Blagojevich gets 14-year prison sentence
• Political reaction: No joy, but he had it coming
• Amy Blagojevich's letter to Judge Zagel
• Key dates in Blagojevich case