Rod Blagojevich no pawn, judge says at Chicago sentencing hearing

Rod Blagojevich was clearly the ringleader of the shakedown schemes to sell or trade Barack Obama's vacant seat, and not a pawn of his advisers as argued by the former Illinois Governor's lawyers, a federal judge said Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel said at Blagojevich's sentencing hearing in Chicago that he believed there was ample evidence Blagojevich wanted $1.5 million in campaign contributions for the Senate seat, The Associated Press reported. Zagel's comments "could signal a harsher sentence for Blagojevich," it added.

According to the ABC:

Zagel said it’s "absurd" for the defense to suggest that Blagojevich was being manipulated by staffers and advisers. Zagel said secretly-recorded conversations showed that Blagojevich relentlessly worked to use his authority to benefit himself.

“There is no question from his tone of voice that he was demanding,” said Zagel. “His role as leader is clearly shown by his actions.”

A lawyer for Blagojevich argued that the 15- to 20-year prison term proposed by prosecutors for her client's 18 convictions in two trials was too harsh, considering Blagojevich didn't receive the personal benefits he sought, Bloomberg reported.

Carolyn Gurland also asked the judge to consider "the devastation that his absence would cause to his family" and damage his imprisonment would cause his two daughters.

Describing Blagojevich as a devoted and loving father who attended school functions regularly, Gurland said: “It would break their hearts and take the safe and loving home they have had around them apart.” 

But the judge said Blagojevich must be held accountable. "The governor of Illinois had significant power to inflict penalties on those who did not pay," Zagel said.