Blagojevich Supporter Starts Petition Asking Obama To Grant Clemency
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An Elmwood Park man has started a petition drive asking President Barack Obama to grant clemency to Rod Blagojevich, after a federal judge declined reduce the disgraced former governor's 14-year prison sentence.
Andy Grzesiak started the petition on the White House "We The People" website on Wednesday, and needs 100,000 signatures by Sept. 9 to get a response.
After 24 hours, the petition had collected only three signatures.
Grzesiak said he started the petition, because he felt U.S. District Judge James Zagel should have shown some mercy to Blagojevich at the former governor's resentencing hearing on Tuesday.
"It seemed as if the judge more or less had a personal vendetta against Blagojevich," he said. "It really disturbed me that there was no change in the sentence."
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Blagojevich won a chance at a reduced sentence when a federal appeals court overturned some of his corruption convictions last year. His defense team had asked Zagel to sentence him to five years, meaning he would have been able to go free almost immediately, as he has already served more than four years in prison.
However, federal prosecutors argued the original sentence should stand, claiming Blagojevich still has not taken responsibility for his crimes.
Grzesiak said he doesn't know Blagojevich, but voted for him, and believes he is a changed man and should go free.
"He was mistreated as far as the resentencing hearing. I feel strongly that it should have been less than the original sentence," he said. "With all of the sympathy that came from fellow prisoners, from the family, from friends, and people who know Blagojevich and know that he is a changed person, and he has accepted responsibility for what occurred, I really strongly felt that there should have been a change."
Although Blagojevich – appearing at his resentencing via videoconference – admitted to "many mistakes," prosecutors noted he did not explicitly admit to breaking the law.
Zagel applauded Blagojevich for being a model prisoner, and acknowledged the case has caused his family suffering, but said the former governor is to blame for his ordeal, and said his crimes and the need for deterrence outweighed his conduct in prison.
"The fault lies in the governor, and no one else," he said.
