Patti Blagojevich: Rod's Year In Prison Has Left 'Aching Hole In Our Lives'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Patti Blagojevich marked the first year of her husband Rod Blagojevich's first year in prison by posting a message to the former governor's supporters on her Facebook page.
Blagojevich has been at FCI Englewood in Colorado for a year, after being sentenced to 14 years in prison on corruption charges. He was convicted in 2011 of trying to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate and to obtain campaign contributions in exchange for other official actions.
On Friday, his wife wrote that the first year of prison has "flown by" for her and their kids.
"The girls and I are so busy with the daily tasks of living and working and going to school that one week seems to flow right into the next," she wrote. On the other hand though, when you measure how much Rod has missed-the birthdays, holidays, Amy passing her driving test, the musical recitals and even just the ordinary moments at breakfast time before the girls leave for school, the loss feels all consuming. Unfortunately, those moment [sic] have been stolen from my children and there is no getting them back."
Patti said she and their daughters -- Amy and Annie -- speak to Rod every day, and have visited him several times in the past year.
"He is surviving-trying to make the best of an untenable situation. He teaches a class on the Civil War, is learning to play the guitar and runs miles and miles around the quarter-mile track that is available to him," she said. "But what really gets him through is our visits and the faith that in the end this tremendous injustice will be righted. That we will be a family together again soon."
She expressed confidence in her husband's appeal of his conviction, which is making its way through the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Under federal guidelines, the earliest Blagojevich can be released from prison -- barring a successful appeal -- is early 2024, when he'll be 67 years old.
