Judge Greenlights Early End To Blagojevich’s Court Supervision
After all the years of a sometimes circus-like atmosphere surrounding him and his legal problems, it looks like the judicial system is done with former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich as of yesterday.
Here's a quick refresher on the story of how Blagojevich got to where he is right now, which is basically a guy who has paid his debt to society and is looking for work.
According to the Associated Press (AP), Rod Blagojevich first came on the radar for Illinois voters back in 1993, when he was elected as a state representative. Next, he gets elected to Congress, where he spends about the next 6 years. Then, in 2002, Rod Blagojevich is elected governor of the State of Illinois.
I'm sure that if Blagojevich had his way, the story would continue on in an entirely different direction. Maybe he would have found himself in the ****ing golden position of being one of Illinois' senators, or perhaps he would still be governor. However, as we all know, it didn't go that way at all.
In 2004, we started hearing rumblings about Governor Blagojevich being the target of a federal probe over potential hiring fraud and kickbacks, then some top fundraisers found themselves looking at indictments for money laundering, kickbacks, and even mail fraud. Even with those problems staring him in the face, Blagojevich gets reelected in 2006.
Fast forward one year later, and Blagojevich finds himself being arrested on charges of corruption by federal agents. Next came impeachment (the first Illinois governor to be impeached, as hard as that is to believe) and removal from the office of Illinois governor.
Finally, in 2011, Rod Blagojevich was found guilty on 18 counts, and sentenced to 14 years in federal prison. Despite numerous appeals going pretty much nowhere for him, Blagojevich had his sentence commuted by President Trump in February of 2020. The only thing that was left was two years of supervised release. That brings us around to this:
Among other things, that meant seeking permission to leave the Northern District of Illinois. Blagojevich petitioned the court for early release, and the government did not object.
On Tuesday, a simple notation in his file stated, "Agreed motion for early termination of supervision is granted as to Rod Blagojevich: Signed by the honorable Sara L. Ellis."
It looks as though he'll have some free time now to scout out some Midwestern job opportunities.