In Letter, Patti Blagojevich Begs Judge To Reduce Former Governor's Prison Sentence
(CBS) – Patti Blagojevich is pleading for mercy for her husband.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports the request of U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel comes in a letter filed late Monday afternoon, hours before Rod Blagojevich's resentencing hearing for his 2011 corruption conviction.
"The future of my children, family, and husband, lies within your power and judgment. Please reunite me with my husband of almost 26 years so that we can go on to love and support each other, and raise our children together. Please let Rod come home and be the father that our daughters need and deserve. Please give Annie the chance for a normal happy childhood, that has slipped away for Amy. I am pleading with you, indeed begging you, to please be merciful," Patti Blagojevich writes.
Almost 4 ½ years ago, Rod Blagojevich walked into a federal prison in Colorado to begin his 14-year sentence. His wife tells Judge Zagel how tortuous those years have been for her and their two daughters.
"What is hard for us, is torture for Rod. Rod knows the short window of Amy and Annie's childhoods is rapidly closing, and not being able to be here to provide for, protect, and support them properly is the worst punishment you could inflict upon him," she writes.
Blagojevich is being resentenced a year after an appellate court tossed five of his 18 convictions. He will speak via closed-circuit television.
His wife and daughters will be in court. Patti Blagojevich will also speak, possibly elaborating on her letter. In it, she also tells Zagel she and her daughters have spent more than 1,200 hours on the phone and visited him more than 20 times.
"Why do we put in the effort? We put in the effort because Rod is a great husband and father and he is worth the wait," she writes.
Patti Blagojevich also writes if the purpose of his prison time was to punish him, it has been accomplished because she's seen his suffering.
Robert Bagojevich, Rod Blagojevich's brother, will also fly in for the hearing. He also wrote a letter on the former governor's behalf, as did Ald. Deb Mell (Rod Blagojevich's sister-in-law) and inmates who have met the former governor behind bars.
Click here to read the letters (some names are redacted), which were filed on behalf of the former governor by his appellate defense attorneys.