Judge agrees to end Rod Blagojevich’s supervised release early following commutation

A federal judge Tuesday granted a request to bring former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s two-year supervised release to an early end, court records show.

Then-President Donald Trump left the supervised release intact when he commuted Blagojevich’s prison sentence in February 2020. A spokesman for U.S. Attorney John Lausch’s office said last month that it would not oppose a bid to end it early.

The move amounted to a formality at the end of a once-sensational public corruption case.

The conditions of Blagojevich’s supervised release, which govern a federal defendant’s behavior after prison, were standard. They included seeking permission from a probation officer or the court to leave the federal district. And if Blagojevich didn’t find a job in two months, he had to perform at least 20 hours of community service per week until employed.

An “agreed motion for early termination of supervision as to Rod Blagojevich” appeared on the court docket last month, though the document itself was filed under seal. U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis, who now presides over the case, granted it Tuesday.

A spokesman for the former governor did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Trump commuted the 14-year prison sentence of Blagojevich, now 64, citing the years-long campaign for clemency by former Illinois First Lady Patti Blagojevich and calling the former governor’s eight years for behind bars “a long time.”

Blagojevich reemerged in Chicago at O’Hare Airport around midnight on Feb. 19, 2020 — weeks before the coronavirus pandemic took hold here.