CHICAGO (AP) — Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich says in his first statement since entering prison that he’ll “fight on” in the courts because “what is at stake is nothing less than the rule of law.”
The Illinois Democrat’s longtime public relations firm released the written statement Monday, in which Blagojevich urges members of the public to read for themselves the appeal he filed Tuesday to the full U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.
The 58-year-old says criteria used to convict him of corruption mean “any politician can be jailed at the whim of an ambitious prosecutor.”
Blagojevich began serving a 14-year prison sentence in Colorado in 2012.
Jurors convicted him on 18 counts, including that he tried to sell President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat. A three-judge appellate panel recently tossed five of those counts.
Monday’s statement came as defense attorneys asked for a rehearing of his appeal. Blagojevich urged people to read his lawyers’ arguments.