Appeals Court Again Denies Blagojevich Request For Rehearing

By Associated Press
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before he was to report to a prison after his conviction on corruption charges. On Monday federal prosecutors said statements Blagojevich has made prove he isn’t “deserving of leniency.” A resentencing hearing is scheduled next month for Blagojevich, who is hoping a federal judge will give him a five-year sentence instead of his original 14 years.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before he was to report to a prison after his conviction on corruption charges. Federal prosecutors said statements Blagojevich has made prove he isn't "deserving of leniency." M. Spencer Green / AP Photo
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before he was to report to a prison after his conviction on corruption charges. On Monday federal prosecutors said statements Blagojevich has made prove he isn’t “deserving of leniency.” A resentencing hearing is scheduled next month for Blagojevich, who is hoping a federal judge will give him a five-year sentence instead of his original 14 years.
Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich speaks to the media outside his home in Chicago as his wife, Patti, wipes away tears a day before he was to report to a prison after his conviction on corruption charges. Federal prosecutors said statements Blagojevich has made prove he isn't "deserving of leniency." M. Spencer Green / AP Photo

Appeals Court Again Denies Blagojevich Request For Rehearing

By Associated Press
WBEZ brings you fact-based news and information. Sign up for our newsletters to stay up to date on the stories that matter.

CHICAGO (AP) — A federal appeals court again has rejected a request from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for a rehearing on his request for another resentencing.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday denied Blagojevich’s May 19 petition for a hearing before the entire court. Blagojevich made the request a month after a three-judge panel of the appeals court rejected his case.

Those three judges in April rejected arguments that a federal judge failed to consider Blagojevich’s prison rehabilitation efforts when resentencing him last summer. U.S. District Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich the same 14-year term he’d handed down in 2011.

Blagojevich has exhausted virtually all of his legal options. One of the last options would be to ask President Donald Trump for clemency.