Feds Looking to Send Blago Away a Long Time

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 15, 2011 4:40PM

Rod Blagojevich's sentencing hearing begins next month and the Sun-Times is reporting federal prosecutors want to throw away the key once he's locked up.

The Bright One cites sources as saying prosecutors may argue for a prison term of up to 30 years for Blagojevich, a number Blago's attorney Sheldon Sorosky says is "harsh and cruel:"

“We are preparing a submission to Judge (James) Zagel, which is far, far, far under those draconian and harsh and cruel numbers,” Sorosky said. “We are making our own guideline calculation which is fair and based on facts and the evidence at trial.”

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office told NBC Chicago they've not lobbied publicly nor privately for a sentence yet. But they did say they believe Blagojevich should receive "the stiffest penalties possible" because he took to the stand and lied and, using an analogy Blagojevich used quite often himself, was essentially the head of a large corporation as governor.