Blagojevich relatives plead for leniency

A federal judge heard pleas Tuesday from Rod R. Blagojevich’s wife and one of his daughters urging leniency for the former Illinois governor, who was convicted last summer of 17 corruption counts, including an attempt to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate.

“Your honor, I ask you humbly with the life of my husband and the childhood of my daughters in your hands, be merciful,” Patti Blagojevich wrote to U.S. District Judge James Zagel in a letter read to the court by lawyer Aaron Goldstein.

Goldstein then read an excerpt from Amy Blagojevich’s letter to the judge. She also asked for mercy for her dad.

“I need my father,” she wrote. “I need him there for my high school graduation.... I’ll need him when my heart gets broken.”

Earlier, prosecutor Reid Schar called Blagojevich “a very clever criminal,” and defense attorneys conceded that Blagojevich had committed crimes.

Defense attorney Sheldon Sorosky told the judge that Blagojevich committed four wrongs, chiefly the attempted sale of the Senate seat held by Barack Obama until his election as president. Blagojevich made a mistake by asking for a job in return for possibly appointing Obama’s friend, Valerie Jarrett, to the Senate, Sorosky said.

“We accept the fact that’s a crime. It’s illegal. He should not have done it,” Sorosky said.

But Blagojevich’s lawyers contend he was not the leader of a criminal conspiracy and did not profit from the corruption of which he was convicted. They argue that he faces up to a little more than four years in prison under the sentencing guidelines but that he should get significantly less time, perhaps even probation.

Prosecutors say Blagojevich led others through criminal schemes in an attempt to bring in about $1.6 million in tainted campaign money. They maintain he is eligible for up to a life term under the guidelines but recommend he be sentenced to 15 to 20 years in prison.

Zagel appeared Tuesday to lean far closer to the government’s recommendation of a sentence than to that of the defense.

“There is no question from his tone of voice that he was demanding,” Zagel said of Blagojevich’s comments on phone conversations secretly recorded by the FBI, the Associated Press reported. “His role as leader is clearly shown by his actions.”

The sentencing hearing is set to resume Wednesday.