Patti Blagojevich ‘speechless’ convicted chicago cop’s sentence is shorter than her husband’s, sends flare to Trump on social media

Former+Illinois+Gov.+Rod+Blagojevich+delivers+a+statement+with+his+wife%2C+Patti%2C+at+his+side%2C+on+his+last+full+day+of+freedom+at+his+home+on+Wednesday%2C+March+14%2C+2012+in+Chicago%2C+Ill.+

Nuccio DiNuzzo | Chicago Tribune

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich delivers a statement with his wife, Patti, at his side, on his last full day of freedom at his home on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 in Chicago, Ill.

By Lisa Donovan, Chicago Tribune

Patti Blagojevich compared on social media Friday the controversial sentencing of former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke with the lengthier prison sentence given to her husband, imprisoned former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The former governor’s wife included President Donald Trump’s Twitter handle in her message in which she bemoaned Van Dyke’s sentence of fewer than seven years in comparison with her husband’s. Van Dyke received a six-year, nine-month sentence for second-degree murder in the fatal on-duty shooting of Laquan McDonald.

“I am speechless. A 17 year old is dead and the sentence is less than half of my husbands sentence for discussions with his staff and attorneys about political fundraising,” Patti Blagojevich tweeted, adding Trump’s handle, @realDonaldTrump.

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Rod Blagojevich was convicted of wire fraud for discussing how he could personally profit from selling the U.S. Senate seat that was being vacated by then-President-elect Barack Obama. The ex-governor has served almost half of a 14-year federal sentence.

Patti Blagojevich, a daughter of powerful former Ald. Dick Mell, has been trying to appeal to the White House for leniency _ making her case via conservative media in hopes of catching Trump’s eye.

It certainly did in December when she went on Fox News, the president’s favorite TV channel. Trump, besieged by multiple investigations, took to Twitter to urge supporters to praise her and to watch the interview, raising the specter of a possible commutation for Rod Blagojevich.

In that interview, Patti Blagojevich attempted to liken a probe into questionable spending on Trump’s 2017 inauguration to what she thought were injustices into her husband’s unrelated federal corruption case.

She has sought to appeal to Trump for leniency by citing what she considers an unchecked Justice Department, in line with the president criticizing special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of alleged Russian collusion in the 2016 Trump victory as a “witch hunt.”

In May, Trump raised the possibility of slashing Blagojevich’s sentence for “being stupid and saying things that every other politician, you know, that many other politicians say.” But it was the last word Trump had made about Blagojevich, who was an unsuccessful contestant on his “Celebrity Apprentice” show following his arrest.

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