After being found guilty Monday, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, with wife Patti, said he was "stunned"
by the verdict.(Michael Tercha, Chicago Tribune / June 27, 2011)
Seasoned criminal-defense attorneys and former prosecutors consulted by the Tribune estimate Blagojevich could be looking at about 10 years, based on recent public corruption sentences here. The sentence could take months to formulate.
While many factors will go into the decision by U.S. District Judge James Zagel, Blagojevich's unorthodox strategy to repeatedly go public with his claims of innocence could come back to haunt him, the experts said.
His conviction also means Blagojevich's decision to testify could hurt him at sentencing if the judge concludes the former governor lied under oath, they said.Zagel's displeasure with the former governor's behavior has been on display at his retrial as well as the first trial last summer that ended with the jury largely deadlocked except for one guilty count.The judge "is not going to sentence him on who he is," veteran attorney Robert Loeb said of Blagojevich. "He is going to sentence him on what he has said and done."Blagojevich already faces sentencing for lying to theFBI, the lone count on which he was convicted at the first trial. That jury deadlocked on the remaining counts, setting the stage for the retrial.Before Blagojevich is sentenced, a probation officer using federal sentencing guidelines will calculate the range of punishment faced by Blagojevich. Then prosecutors and Blagojevich's lawyers will argue about why more time should be added or shaved off.Since the sentencing guidelines were made advisory and not mandatory about six years ago, Zagel has wide discretion to impose the sentence he thinks is just and fair.
"It's the essential judgment call," said former federal prosecutor Dean Polales, who is now a criminal-defense attorney. "The burden is entirely on him."Among the factors to be weighed are criminal history, the nature and circumstance of the offense, and the need for deterrence. Judges often also consider family circumstances.The government will be certain to raise Blagojevich's breach of the public trust as well as the pervasive culture of corruption that swirled around his administration, Loeb said.Blagojevich also will have an opportunity to make his own case to Zagel, arguing for any positive impact he thinks he had in his political career. Backers could offer support and seek mercy in letters to the judge.But also at play could be Blagojevich's knack for making a national spectacle of himself, doing endless television interviews and public appearances that prosecutors thought occasionally distorted the evidence against him.Loeb and others said Blagojevich's media blitzes before both trials could matter to Zagel if it suggests Blagojevich denigrated the legal process or the seriousness of the charges against him.
Polales said Zagel might also consider whether Blagojevich used his many appearances to attempt to taint both juries — an allegation the government leveled.The experts said Zagel is likely to punish Blagojevich as well as a deterrent for other elected officials. with four Illinois governors convicted — three on charges related to their office — since the 1970s, Zagel could decide to send a strong message."Apparently the convictions have not served as a deterrent to the culture of corruption," Loeb said.
8:11 p.m. CDT, June 27, 2011
