Rod Blagojevich was once governor of Illinois, but now he’s a prison history teacher just biding his time after being sent away for more than a decade.
Blagojevich was sent to prison exactly one year ago after being convicted of 18 counts of corruption, including trying to sell the Senate seat once left vacant when Barack Obama was elected president in 2008. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and sent to a federal facility in Colorado.
On Friday, Rod’s wife Patti Blagojevich posted an update on her Facebook page telling people about the plight of the former governor.
“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,” Patti Blagojevich wrote. “On the other hand though, when you measure how much Rod has missed — the birthdays, holidays, Amy [a daughter] 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 [moments] have been stolen from my children and there is no getting them back.”
She noted that the family speaks with Rod each day and have visited him in Colorado many times. He is making the best of his situation, she said, and Blagojevich has even become a prison teacher, leading a class on the Civil War.
Though Patti said her husband is taking prison life one day at a time, Rod Blagojevich is also working to restore his name and gain his freedom again. He has an appeal filed for April 25, though experts say it will likely be fall before a verdict would be rendered.
Though legal experts put Blagojevich’s chances of overturning his convictions are slight, the former governor remains optimistic.
“He is upbeat because he believes, he truly does, that he’ll be home soon,” his attorney, Sam Adam Jr. said.
If the appeal does not go through, at least the former governor doesn’t seem to be having too difficult a time in prison. Blagojevich the prison teacher is reportedly very popular with his fellow inmates.