CHICAGO (AP) — Rod Blagojevich’s attorneys want an appellate court to give them 90 days to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the imprisoned former governor’s appeal of his corruption convictions.
A Friday filing with Chicago’s 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asks it to stay pending orders so lawyers can make the request with the nation’s highest court.
The 58-year-old Democrat is serving a 14-year prison term, including for trying to sell an appointment to President Barack Obama’s old Senate seat.
A three-judge panel tossed five of his 18 convictions in July. The 7th Circuit refused Blagojevich’s request this week for a full-court rehearing.
The Supreme Court is his last shot. And it’s a long shot. It only agrees to hear around 80 cases out of more than 10,000 requests annually.