Rod Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, will be heading to federal prison in 90 days to serve a 14-year sentence for his conviction on corruption charges. The sentence was handed down on Wednesday, despite pleas for leniency from Blagojevich and his wife and children. Blagojevich apologized to the federal judge on Wednesday and to the Illinois public, but the federal judge felt that the apology came too late.

The judge felt that Blagojevich should have resigned from his position of governor after he was indicted on the corruption charges of trying to sell Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat, rather than having to be impeached. It wasn't until Wednesday that Blagojevich and his defense attorneys admitted that the former governor had tried to sell the seat for personal gain, and the judge felt that acceptance of responsibility was not soon enough to affect the length of the sentence.

U.S. attorneys said that Blagojevich had tarnished the reputation of Illinois and had made the public more cynical and less trusting of government, and they had asked for 15 to 20 years in prison for Blagojevich.

A jury in June convicted Blagojevich on 17 charges of corruption. He will turn 55 years old on Saturday. He has two children. His predecessor as governor is also in federal prison for corruption.

Source: CNN, "Blagojevich gets 14 years in prison for corruption," Bill Kirkos, Dec. 7, 2011