Patti Blagojevich Attends Husband's Appeal Hearing

The wife of imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich attended a Chicago hearing to hear oral arguments in her husband's appeal.

Patti Blagojevich showed up at the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Friday morning as lawyers prepared to argue for and against tossing the ex-governor's corruption convictions.

She took a seat in a front row and hugged one of her husband's defense attorneys. Several FBI agents and prosecutors who investigated her husband sat nearby.

Convicts typically aren't permitted to attend such hearings and the two-term governor wasn't present. The 56-year-old remains in a Colorado prison serving a 14-year sentence.

Rod Blagojevich's lawyers are hoping to at least win a reduction in the Chicago Democrat's sentence, which is one of the longest ever imposed for political corruption in Illinois.