Top

Rod Blagojevich

March 28, 2012 by · Comments Off on Rod Blagojevich 

Rod Blagojevich, Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s Ravenswood Manor home is off the market. The 3,800-square-foot Mediterranean-style home got national exposure two weeks ago as the backdrop for Blagojevich’s final news conference before he headed to federal prison in Colorado to begin a 14-year sentence.

But the “upheaval” of Blagojevich’s recent departure has made it too stressful for his family to entertain offers on the house, and Patti Blagojevich, the state’s former first lady and listing agent, has temporarily taken it off the market, a family spokesman said Monday.

“Patti believes it’s best for (daughters) Amy and Annie to avoid the stress of showing a house during a time which has already been filled with so much upheaval,” spokesman Glenn Selig said in a statement. “Showing the home is just too much for the girls to go through right now.”

The house went on the market in October for $1.07 million, thought the price was later dropped to $998,000 — about double what the Blagojeviches paid when they bought the house in 1999.

The house, which sits on a 50-foot-wide corner lot, has five bedrooms, four baths, three fireplaces, a library, a music room and a 2,200-square-foot gym in the basement.

When it went on the market, Patti Blagojevich said the family no longer could afford to stay in the home, and Rod Blagojevich has noted his financial struggles since his 2008 arrest as a reason the couple took the unusual step of appearing on reality TV shows while he was awaiting trial.

The house was the scene of multiple news conferences by the former governor as he battled corruption charges, and in a recent TV interview, Patti Blagojevich recalled the morning in 2008 when FBI agents marched her husband out of the house. Blagojevich later was required to post the house, and a condo in Washington, as bond while he awaited sentencing.

Rod Blagojevich

December 7, 2011 by · Comments Off on Rod Blagojevich 

Rod BlagojevichRod Blagojevich, Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich told a federal court Wednesday that he made “terrible mistakes” and is “unbelievably sorry” for his crimes. His emotional statement was a dramatic departure from his insistence on his innocence since his arrest three years ago. U.S. District Judge James Zagel is preparing to sentence him for 18 felony corruption convictions.

“I am responsible,” Blagojevich said, apologizing for his actions and his earlier assertions that he was unjustly targeted by prosecutors. Before he spoke Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar said in court that Blagojevich’s actions “corrupted the decision-making process” in the state and called the former governor corrupt and manipulative.

Federal prosecutors have asked the judge to sentence Blagojevich to 15 to 20 years in prison; defense lawyers have said that would be too harsh.

The court took a short recess after Blagojevich made his remarks. Zagel is expected to announce just how long he will spend behind bars when court resumes.

Blagojevich described explaining his guilty verdicts to his two young daughters and apologized to his family for the pain he has caused them.

“I have nobody to blame but myself for my stupidity,” he said.

Blagojevich ended his remarks by asking for the judge’s mercy.

In two trials, Blagojevich, a Democrat elected to two terms as governor, was found guilty of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat once occupied by Barack Obama, shaking people down in exchange for campaign contributions and lying to federal agents.

Bottom