FILE PHOTO: Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich makes a statement to reporters outside his Chicago home one day before reporting to federal prison in Colorado to serve a 14-year sentence for corruption, March 14, 2012. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes/File Photo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he had commuted the sentence of Rod Blagojevich, the former Democratic governor of Illinois convicted of corruption for trying to sell former President Barack Obama’s vacated U.S. Senate seat.
Blagojevich, who appeared on Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice” reality television show in 2010 as he was awaiting trial, had been serving a 14-year sentence after being convicted of wire fraud, extortion and soliciting bribes while governor.
Reporting by Steve Holland; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Tim Ahmann