CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – FEBRUARY 19: Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich arrives home from prison after his sentence was commuted by President Donald Trump on February 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Blagojevich had been serving time in federal prison for attempting to sell Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat when Obama was elected president. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
With a rather mundane notation Tuesday in what was sometimes an eventful and even zany case, the criminal saga of Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich officially came to a close.
Blagojevich was freed in February of 2020 when then-president Donald Trump commuted his sentence to the 8 years the former governor had served in a Colorado prison. He had previously been sentenced to 14 years on corruption charges.
But while Trump ended the former governor's incarceration, he had left intact a two-year period of supervised-release.
Among other things, that meant seeking permission to leave the Northern District of Illinois. Blagojevich petitioned the court for early release, and the government did not object.
On Tuesday, a simple notation in his file stated, "Agreed motion for early termination of supervision is granted as to Rod Blagojevich: Signed by the honorable Sara L. Ellis."
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