by Will Huff
STARKVILLE, Miss. (Take 30 News)--A sign that read “Thanks Mr. Trump” hung outside of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's house after he was released from prison on February 18. He was charged on 17 counts including attempting to sell the US Senate seat vacated by President Obama after he was elected. Blagojevich had been in prison since 2012 and his original release date was March 13 of 2024. While President Trumps choice to pardon Blagojevich has been met with controversy, the President has stood by his decision saying that the sentence was a "tremendously powerful ridiculous sentence."
Blagojevich actually spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper and said that he believes he was convicted on a fake law.
"The jury made the right call based on the fake law that the prosecutors gave them. They used a standard against me that the supreme court in the Macormit case said was not the law.” Blagojevich said. “Think about that, they used a standard that the supreme court said was not a law. How different that from a dirty cop planting a murder weapon to frame an innocent man."
Blagojevich's sentence was supposed to last 14 years, however, he only served 8 years in prison.