Blagojevich resentencing: Judge to mull opposing portraits

Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to order former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to serve his entire 14-year prison term when he returns to court for resentencing next month.
But his attorneys want about nine years lopped off the sentence of the man they say has been a model prisoner who's tutored, taught and counseled fellow inmates while also forming an Elvis-inspired rock band.
The motions filed late today are part of a legal battle between federal prosecutors and the former governor's attorneys over the sentence imposed in 2011 by US District Judge James Zagel after a jury convicted Blagojevich of 18 corruption counts, including attempting to sell the vacant US Senate seat once occupied by President Barack Obama.

In March, several months after a federal appeals court panel tossed five of 18 counts against Blagojevich, prosecutors said they would not retry him on those counts and requested that he return to Zagel's courtroom for resentencing.
Neither motion was surprising, as prosecutors argued that Blagojevich has never taken responsibility for his crime and the defense reiterating a long held argument that the sentence was too long.
But the 22-page defense motion does offer a glimpse into the life of a man who has not been seen or heard from since he reported to a Colorado federal prison in 2012.

Attorney Leonard Goodman writes that Blagojevich has been tutoring inmates studying for their GED, teaching history and providing job interview counseling for soon-to-be-released inmates. He talks almost daily to his family on the phone, quizzing his children to help them prepare for exams.

Fellow inmates also have offered letters of support, including one prisoner who credits Blagojevich with helping him reconnect with his daughter.
And in an effort to share in his youngest daughter's interest in music, Blagojevich has studied guitar and vocals, according to Goodman. Well known for his love of all things Elvis Presley, his life-sized statue of Presley was auctioned off after he went to prison Blagojevich, formed with another inmate a band called "The Jailhouse Rockers."

In its own 14-page filing at midnight yesterday, the U.S. attorney's office said that "nothing in the dismissal of the five counts undermines the need for a very significant sentence ... To deter current and future public officials from engaging in similar criminal activity."
They also said that Blagojevich has never taken responsibility for his crimes.