Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Sentenced to 14 Years

Former disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for trying to sell President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich some credit for taking responsibility for his actions, which the former governor did in an address to the court earlier in the day, but also said that that didn’t mitigate his crimes. Zagel said Blagojevich did some good things for people as governor, but was more concerned about using his powers for himself.

“When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired,” Zagel said.

The sentence also includes a $20,000 fine.

Blagojevich spoke briefly to reporters, quoting from the poem “If” by Rudyard Kipling: “If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same.”

“This is a time for me to be strong for my children and for (wife) Patti … a time for Patti and me to explain to our kids what this means and where we go from here… See you soon,” he said. He then left without answering any questions.

The twice-elected Democrat received by far the harshest sentence among the four Illinois governors sent to prison in the last four decades. He is the second in a row to go to prison; his Republican predecessor, George Ryan, currently is serving 6 1/2 years. The other two got three years or less.

The 54-year-old was not taken immediately into custody. His surrender date was set for Feb. 16. In white-collar cases, convicted felons are usually given at least a few weeks to report to prison while federal authorities select a suitable facility. Blagojevich is expected to appeal his conviction, but it is unlikely to affect when he reports to prison.

It took two trials for prosecutors to convict Blagojevich on sweeping corruption charges. His first ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts, that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion.

FBI wiretap evidence proved decisive. In the most notorious recording, Blagojevich is heard saying that his chance to name someone to Obama’s seat was “f—ing golden” and he wouldn’t let it go “for f—ing nothing.”

Mumia Abu-Jamal Taken Off Death Row

After a thirty year court battle Philadelphia prosecutors will no longer be seeking the death penalty in the case of former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal, convicted of killing a white police officer.

District Attorney Seth Williams announced his decision with police officer Daniel Faulkner’s widow standing by his side.

“There’s never been any doubt in my mind that Mumia Abu-Jamal shot and killed Officer Faulkner. I believe that the appropriate sentence was handed down by a jury of his peers in 1982,” said Williams, who is black. “While Abu-Jamal will no longer be facing the death penalty, he will remain behind bars for the rest of his life, and that is where he belongs.”

Abu-Jamal was convicted and sentenced to death for the fatal shooting of Faulkner on Dec. 9, 1981.

The conviction was upheld through years of legal appeals, but a federal appeals court ordered a new sentencing hearing after ruling the instructions given to the jury were potentially misleading. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to weigh in on the case in October which forced prosecutors to decide if they wanted to again pursue the death penalty or accept a life sentence.

According to trial testimony, Abu-Jamal saw his brother scuffle with the 25-year-old patrolman during a 4 a.m. traffic stop in 1981 and ran toward the scene. Police found Abu-Jamal wounded by a round from Faulkner’s gun. Faulkner was shot multiple times and killed. A .38-caliber revolver registered to Abu-Jamal was found at the scene with five spent shell casings.

Maureen and Daniel Faulkner were newlyweds when the officer was killed.

“My family and I have endured a three-decade ordeal at the hands of Mumia Abu-Jamal, his attorneys and his supporters, who in many cases never even took the time to educate themselves about the case before lending their names, giving their support and advocating for his freedom,” Maureen Faulkner said Wednesday. “All of this has taken an unimaginable physical, emotional and financial toll on each of us.”

Abu-Jamal, born Wesley Cook, turned 58 earlier this year.

Abu-Jamal, a one-time journalist, garnered worldwide support from the “Free Mumia” movement. Hundreds of vocal supporters and death-penalty opponents regularly turn out for court hearings in his case.

Over the years, Abu-Jamal has challenged the predominantly white makeup of the jury, instructions given to jurors and the statements of eyewitnesses. He has also alleged ineffective counsel, racism by the trial judge and that another man confessed to the crime.

Maureen Faulkner railed against what she called the justice system’s “dirty little secret” the difficulty of putting condemned killers to death and called the judges who overturned Abu-Jamal’s death sentence “dishonest cowards”. Pennsylvania has put to death three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, and all three had willingly given up on their appeals.

“The fix is in before the hearing even begins,” she said.

Faulkner also vowed to fight anyone who tries to get special treatment for Abu-Jamal, insisting that he be moved to the general population after being taken off death row.

Obama gives top fundraisers jobs in his administration

According to a USA TODAY analysis 40% of President Obama’s top fundraisers have been given jobs within his administration.

About 600 individuals and couples raised money to help fund Obama’s presidential campaign. 54 have been named to government positions, ranging from Cabinet and White House posts to advisory roles. The President has also appointed more of his fundraisers to ambassadorships than any president in four decades, drawing protests from groups representing career diplomats. The American Foreign Service Association, the diplomats’ union, found that more than half of the ambassadors named by Obama so far are political appointees, said Susan Johnson, president of the association. An appointment is considered political if it does not go to a career diplomat in the State Department. Traditionally about 30% of top diplomatic jobs go to political appointees, and roughly 70% to veteran State Department employees. Ambassadors earn $153,200 to $162,900 annually.

“It is time to end the spoils system and the de facto sale of ambassadorships,” Johnson said. “The United States is best served by having experienced, knowledgeable and trained career officers fill all positions in our diplomatic service.”

Among the top Obama fundraisers with jobs: former technology executive Julius Genachowski as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission(FCC) and Nicole Avant, a music industry executive who is the top envoy in the Bahamas.

Others not on the campaign’s list of official bundlers also have reaped rewards such as Sacramento developer Eleni Tsakopoulos-Kounalakis, a fundraiser in Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign. Kounalakis was nominated this month by Obama to serve as ambassador to Hungary. Clinton is now secretary of state.

Below is a list of the 54 fundraisers appointed to government jobs by the president. The campaign reported fundraising in broad ranges only.

RAISED MORE THAN $500,0000
Nicole Avant	Ambassador to the Bahamas
Matthew Barzun	Ambassador to Sweden
Don Beyer	Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein
Jeff Bleich	Ambassador to Australia**
Richard Danzig	Member, Defense Policy Board
William Eacho	Ambassador to Austria
Julius Genachowski	Chairman of Federal Communications Commission
Donald Gips	Ambassador to South Africa
Howard Gutman	Ambassador to Belgium
Scott Harris	General Counsel, Department of Energy
William Kennard	Ambassador to the European Union**
Bruce Oreck	Ambassador to Finland
Spencer Overton	Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General
Thomas Perrelli	Associate Attorney General
Abigail Pollack	Member, Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino
Charles Rivkin	Ambassador to France and Monaco
John Roos	Ambassador of Japan
Francisco Sanchez	Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade
Alan Solomont	Ambassador to Spain and Andorra**
Cynthia Stroum	Ambassador to Luxembourg**
RAISED BETWEEN $200,000 and $500,000
A. Marisa Chun	Deputy associate attorney general
Gregory Craig	White House counsel
Norman Eisen	Special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform
Michael Froman	Deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs
Mark Gallogly	Member, Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Max Holtzman	Senior adviser to the Agriculture secretary
James Hudson	Director, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
Jeh Johnson	General counsel, Department of Defense
Samuel Kaplan	Ambassador to Morocco
Nicole Lamb-Hale	Deputy general counsel, Commerce Department
Andres Lopez	Member, Commission to Study the Potential Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino
Cindy Moelis	Director, Commission on White House Fellows
William Orrick	Counselor to the assistant attorney general
John Phillips	Chairman, Commission on White House Fellows
Penny Pritzker***	Member, Economic Recovery Advisory Board
Bob Rivkin	General counsel, Transportation Department
Desiree Rogers	White House social secretary
Louis Susman	Ambassador to the United Kingdom
Robert Sussman	Senior policy counsel, Environmental Protection Agency
Christina Tchen	Director, White House Office of Public Engagement
Barry White	Ambassador to Norway
RAISED BETWEEN $100,000 and $200,000
Preeta Bansal	General counsel, Office of Management and Budget
Laurie Fulton	Ambassador to Denmark
Fred Hochberg	President, Export-Import Bank of the United States
Valerie Jarrett	Senior adviser to the president
Kevin Jennings	Assistant deputy secretary of Education
Steven Rattner	Treasury Department adviser
Miriam Sapiro	Deputy U.S. trade representative**
Vinai Thummalapally	Ambassador to Belize
RAISED BETWEEN $50,000 and $100,000
Eric Holder	Attorney general
David Jacobson	Ambassador to Canada
Ronald Kirk	U.S. trade representative
Rocco Landesman	Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts
Susan Rice	Ambassador to the United Nations

** Nominated, not yet confirmed by Senate

*** National finance chairwoman