SARASOTA – President Trump commutes the 14-year sentence of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Blagojevich’s former Chicago-based defense attorney, Sam Adam Jr., now lives on the Suncoast and is speaking out.
“We can fight all day long whether you think he committed the crime, didn’t commit the crime,” Adam said.
The defense team of Sam Adam Jr. and Sam Adam Sr. was by Blagojevich’s side since the first trial in 2010.
“We always said we did not believe any of the conduct they had charged him with had reached the level of crime,” Adam Jr. Said. “They hung on everything, and it wasn’t 11-1; a lot of people think it was. It was a lot of 7-5, 5-7, it was the one on the senate seat that was 11-1.”
Blagojevich was convicted of trying to sell Barack Obama’s empty senate seat for personal gain. Adam says he wants to hear more of the 563 hours of government-recorded tapes, like he wanted a decade ago.
“Both sets of lawyers asked to play 100 phone calls. We got to play zero, not one. The government asked to play 112; they got every single one they wanted to play,” he said.
Adam’s worried about the bigger picture when it comes to legal proceedings.
“To this day those tapes are under protective order. No one’s allowed to hear ’em; I’m not allowed to tell you what’s on ’em,” Adam said. “Think about it – if they’re doing this to a governor of a state, what are they doing to the average Joe? What are they doing to the people who don’t have a Sam Adam Jr.?”
As his former lawyer but even more so as a father, Adam is thrilled to see Blagojevich go home.
“I’m first and foremost a family man, and to see him return to his family, those two girls were growing up without a father,” Adam said. “He’ll never get those eight years back, but he can take the next 15 years and have a wonderful life with his family.”
