Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich

Could we once again hear former Gov. Rod Blagojevich recite poetry at a sentencing? See his well-coiffed hair bobbing on the witness stand? Relive those “f—— golden’” wiretapped conversations?

That depends on the U.S. Attorney’s Office; and right now, no one’s saying. Days after the Seventh U.S. District Court of Appeals vacated five counts of corruption against Blagojevich, the U.S. Attorney’s Office remains mum on the case, including whether there will be retrial.

“We have no comment on anything involving the issue,” a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Public Information Office said Friday.

However, don’t be clicking the remote expecting to see Blagojevich bantering with any late-night talk show hosts or eating bugs on any reality TV show anytime soon. Despite 27 percent of the 18 counts he was sentenced on being overturned, the appellate justices who reviewed the case said there is ample evidence to believe that Blagojevich is still serving an adequate sentence.

Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison when sentenced in December 2011. Appellate justices felt that sentence is in line with the 13 counts still standing, considering that the former governor who recited poems by Rudyard Kipling at his sentencing and Lord Alfred Tennyson and Kipling during press conferences was initially in line for a 30-years-to-life sentence.

However, federal magistrate James Zagel felt the 30-years-to-life sentencing was too high and reduced the sentencing range from 12½ to 15½ years.

Justices ruled that Blagojevich’s efforts to get a Cabinet seat for himself in exchange for appointing Valerie Jarrett to the U.S. Senate seat that opened up when Barack Obama became president did not constitute corruption. They contended that the move — even though a Cabinet seat gets a salary — was not corruption and simply “logrolling” — trading one public action for another (i.e. supporting a lawmaker’s legislation in exchange for him supporting you on a separate issue, quid pro quo, if you will)

“A proposal to trade one public act for another, a ‘form of logrolling’ is fundamentally unlike the swap of an official act for a private payment,” the appellate justices wrote in their opinion vacating the five convictions.

Counts where Blagojevich was proven to seek money for the U.S. Senate seat were upheld as corruption.

The justices added, “Because we have affirmed the conviction on most counts and concluded that the advisory sentencing (on the remaining counts) lies at about 168 months (14 years), Blagojevich is not entitled to be released pending … further proceedings.”

Blagojevich twice went to trial oncharges of corruption. The first case wound up with only a conviction of the former governor for telling lies to FBI officials. In the second trial, however, the politician, known almost as much for his jet-black hairdo and saucy language as his insider politics, was convicted on 17 counts of corruption, including the five regarding his bid for the Cabinet seat.

During the trials, wiretapped conservations had Blagojevich’s R-rated dialogue on full display. One conversation with an insider became legendary. When talking about the U.S. Senate seat in his control, Blagojevich says, “I’ve got this thing and it’s f—— golden.”

The appellate justices seemed to indicate that the former governor might have gotten a break with the federal magistrate knocking years off his sentence “even though he pleaded not guilty, denied culpability at two lengthy trials and even now contends that the evidence is insufficient on every count and that he should have been acquitted across the board.

“That’s the antithesis of accepting responsibility.”

— Ruling puts Blagojevich back in spotlight —