Today, Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, filed a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS).
The following is a statement from Patti Blagojevich, wife of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and her attorney Len Goodman:
PATTI BLAGOJEVICH, WIFE:
“Next month will be 9 years since this whole thing started.
“This has been an absolutely grueling process. I am without my husband. My daughters are without their dad. And Rod is alone away from all of us.
“If my husband were governor of Colorado, Florida, New York, Texas or Nevada, or many other states, these charges would never have been brought or he would have been acquitted because the law is different, and his actions would never have been considered criminal.
“My sincere hope is that the supreme court will finally right this wrong and bring my husband home to his family where he belongs.”
LEN GOODMAN, ATTORNEY:
“Our petition lays out a compelling case that the Supreme Court needs to settle the confusion among federal courts about the dividing line between campaign fundraising, something all elected officials are required to do (unless they are billionaires) and the federal crimes of extortion and bribery. The prosecutors in this case took advantage of this confusion to obtain one of the most severe sentences ever handed out in a political corruption case to a governor who never sought a bribe or a kickback and never took a penny from his campaign fund for his personal use.
“The petition also asks the Supreme Court to make clear that sentencing courts must always consider a defendant’s showing that the sentence proposed by the Government is grossly disproportionate to those handed out to others found guilty of similar, or less egregious, offenses. Here, Blagojevich’s sentence was more than twice as long as that given any other official convicted of corruption, yet the court of appeals held that the district court was free to simply ignore the defense’s plea for a more proportionate sentence.
“I also want to acknowledge the fantastic work of my co-counsel Kevin Russell in Washington DC, and Wells Dixon and Shayana Kadidal in NYC.”
Media should direct questions to the contacts below.
MEDIA CONTACTS
Glenn Selig
PR firm: The Publicity Agency
Cell: (813) 300-5454
Office: (813) 708-1220 x 7777
Email: [email protected]
Adam Farragut
PR firm: The Publicity Agency
Office: (813) 708-1220 x 7778
Email: [email protected]
URGENT MEDIA REQUESTS:
SOURCE: The Publicity Agency for Patti Blagojevich
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