A judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois [official website] ruled Tuesday that former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich must serve the rest of his 14-year sentence in a Colorado prison. Judge James Zagel ruled [Reuters report] that Blagojevich’s sentence should not be reduced, rejecting his plea for leniency. Blagojevich’s lawyers said that it was likely this ruling will be appealed.

In March the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal from the former Illinois governor and upheld the ruling by the Seventh Circuit maintaining his 14-year sentence [JURIST report]. In 2015 five of the 18 convictions against the former governor were thrown out. In 2013 Blagojevich was retried and and sentenced to 14 years after being convicted of 18 charges of corruption. Blagojevich was initially found guilty [JURIST report] in 2010 of making false statements to the FBI, but the jury remained deadlocked on 23 additional charges. The prosecutors dropped some of the charges [JURIST report] to simplify the case for retrial, including charges for racketeering. In January 2009 the Illinois State Senate voted unanimously [JURIST report] to convict Blagojevich of abuse of power and remove him from office. Blagojevich and his former chief of staff John Harris were initially arrested [JURIST report] in December 2008 on corruption charges, including allegations that they conspired to sell the Senate seat left vacant by US President Barack Obama.