Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., on Monday said the sentence handed down to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, D-Ill., was "outrageous" and said he supports a reduction of his 14-year term, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.
"I think that the sentence imposed on Rod Blagojevich was definitely way too long – 14 years, it didn't make sense," the Sun-Times quoted Durbin. "I thought the sentence was outrageous, and if there's a way to reduce the sentence for him and his family, I would support it."
President Donald Trump last week suggested he was mulling commuting Blagojevich's sentence, saying the former governor said something "stupid" that led to his conviction in 2011 on federal corruption charges.
"Rod Blagojevich, 18 years in jail for being stupid and saying things that every other politician, you know that many other politicians say," Trump said last week. "And if you look at what he said, he said something to the effect like what do I get . . . stupid thing to say."
The Supreme Court in April refused to hear Blagojevich's appeal. Enter Trump, who worked with Blagojevich on his reality TV show "The Apprentice." Trump also is weighing a pardon to Martha Stewart.
Trump did pardon conservative Dinesh D'Souza last week.
As it stands, Blagojevich, 61, will not leave federal prison in Colorado until 2024.
"I'll let President Trump make that decision, but I certainly think 14 years was entirely too long," Durbin said.
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