The wife of disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich says she and her family are disappointed with a federal appeals court's decision Tuesday to overturn five of 18 counts against her husband.
"This has been a long road for our family," Patti Blagojevich said at a press conference following the decision, with her daughters, ages 12 and 19, at her side.
The court threw out five convictions relating to Blagojevich's negotiations for a cabinet job in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. But despite a possible new sentence, the ruling is far from a victory for the family, as the remaining 13 counts still stand.
As the U.S. Attorney decides if they want to retry Blagojevich on those five counts, the former governor will remain in a Colorado prison, where he is serving a 14-year sentence.
Patti Blagojevich maintained her husband's innocence throughout the trial and continued to do so following the federal court's decision Tuesday.
"My daughters can hold their heads up high knowing that my husband is an innocent man and that he never intended to break the law, and I think for all of us, we would rather see him there with his head held high than be home in disgrace," she said.
Despite her conviction that the family is holding their heads high, Blagojevich also hinted at the toll her husband's prison time has taken on the family. When she mentioned that her husband has missed out on many family events over the years — graduations, proms, birthdays — 19-year-old Amy, who was 12 years old when the legal troubles began, broke down in tears.
Local
"If there's any silver lining for us it's that possibly this is a step in the right direction to get him home with us and with his girls, where he belongs," Blagojevich said.
