CHICAGO – Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was freed from prison Tuesday night following a pardon from President Trump.
He was impeached and removed from office in 2009 on corruption charges and served eight years in federal prison.
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Blagojevich returned home to Chicago early Wednesday, shaking hands and signing autographs after President Donald Trump cut short the 14-year prison sentence handed to the former Illinois governor for political corruption.
Blagojevich, 63, hails from a state with a long history of pay-to-play schemes. He was convicted in 2011 of crimes that included seeking to sell an appointment to Barack Obama’s old Senate seat and trying to shake down a children’s hospital.
Trump, who announced clemency for 11 people on Tuesday, called Blagojevich’s punishment excessive.
