President Donald Trump commuted the prison sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of federal corruption charges.
Trump told reporters on Tuesday that Blagojevich’s sentence was too harsh and that he’ll be released from prison and reunited with his family.
Trump also said he pardoned former New York City police Commissioner Bernard Kerik, who was sentenced to four years in prison for failure to pay taxes and lying to White House officials. He pleaded guilty to eight felony charges in 2010.
Trump’s decision on Blagojevich brought a surprising end to one of the highest-profile public corruption cases of the 21st century. It comes almost two years after the Democratic ex-governor formally requested a commutation and sustained public appeals for mercy from his family.
Trump has repeatedly criticized Blagojevich’s 14-year prison sentence as too harsh and said he would consider using his clemency power to cut it short.
The president told reporters in August he was “thinking very seriously about commuting his sentence” because Blagojevich was “treated very, very unfairly.” He tweeted the following day that many saw his prison sentence that “White House staff is continuing the review of this matter.”
Blagojevich, 63, was convicted in 2011 of 17 charges for what federal prosecutors said was a sweeping corruption plot that included an attempt to sell former President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat. The governor was impeached and removed from office in January 2009, about one month after he was arrested by FBI agents at his home.
Trump and Blagojevich have some personal history. Before his conviction, the former governor appeared on “The Celebrity Apprentice,” a spinoff of the long-running reality television hosted by Trump.
Blagojevich’s wife, Patti, has also made numerous appearances on Fox News to ask Trump to shorten her husband’s prison term. The president referred to her comments when speaking to reporters last summer about a possible commutation.
“I watched his wife, on television, saying that the young girl’s father has been in jail for now seven years, and they’ve never seen him outside of an orange uniform,” Trump said. “His wife, I think, is fantastic.”