News Local/State

Blagojevich Seeks Presidential Commutation Of Prison Term

 
In this Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 courtroom sketch, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, appears via video from a Colorado prison during his re-sentencing in a federal courtroom in Chicago.

In this Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016 courtroom sketch, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, right, appears via video from a Colorado prison during his re-sentencing in a federal courtroom in Chicago. Tom Gianni/Associated Press

Imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is seeking a presidential commutation of his 14-year sentence on a corruption conviction. U.S. Department of Justice spokeswoman Dena Iverson said Friday the department has received a petition for commutation from Blagojevich. She declined to comment further.

The Chicago Democrat was sentenced in 2011 following his conviction for trying to exchange an appointment to President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat for campaign cash.

An appeals court last year struck down five of his 18 convictions and ordered a new sentencing, but a judge this year upheld the 14-year term.

This week Blagojevich's lawyers asked a U.S. appeals court to nullify the prison term and order another sentencing hearing, arguing he's been a model prisoner.

Blagojevich is being held at a low-security federal prison in Colorado.