Now that the second Rod Blagojevich verdict has been rendered, what happens to Rod and his family? How do they prepare for life while he’s incarcerated? How does he get himself ready for life in federal prison?
Unfortunately, having been there, I know.
Here are some of the toughest realities coming his way.
First there’s the difficulty of planning and deciding how to deal with the family financial situation. How do the bills get paid, or can they even be paid? Can his wife, Patti, get a job to keep the family afloat? Can she and the girls afford to stay in their home? Can they afford to keep their children in their schools? Documents that transfer all legal decisions to Patti need to be drafted and signed. Rod will have very little opportunity to discuss or make those decisions while in prison.
The Blagojeviches will quickly learn that a prison sentence is a sentence for the entire family.
The worst day for me, as I’m sure it will be for Rod, was the day I had to say goodbye to loved ones and friends. This is the day you know it’s all real.
Traveling to your designated federal prison, saying your final goodbyes and “checking in” to what will be your housing for however many years you’ve been sentenced is excruciating. All you can think about is how long it will be until life returns to normal. You are transitioning to a new life — prison life.
All your freedoms — gone. Temporarily surrendered to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
Rod will face a different world once he starts prison life. The clothes he wears, his living quarters, his roommates and the food he eats will be decided not by him, but by the Bureau of Prisons . He won’t be Gov. Blagojevich to the prison guards. He’ll be a prisoner with a prison registration number that ends with 424, the “Chicago” designation. His every movement will be limited and watched at all times by the guards and security cameras. He will be given a job earning 12 cents an hour working in the kitchen, as an orderly or on the prison landscaping crew. His communications with loved ones will be limited. He will be allowed 300 phone minutes a month to call home. Three hundred minutes, which averages out to 10 minutes a day. Barely time to say hello, and certainly not enough time to hear about the kids’ school play or deal with even the smallest family crisis. Those matters must wait for visiting day, which may be only one or two weekends a month. Not a lot of time to stay connected.
Daily prison life can be made easier or more difficult depending on your attitude and demeanor. Follow the rules, don’t rock the boat, be respectful of the staff and your life can be bearable. Be arrogant, obnoxious and disrespectful, and the guards and staff can and will make your life a living hell. This is not an environment where independent thought, discussion or actions are encouraged. It’s the BOP’s game, on its court, playing by its rules. You learn quickly to play ball or you pay a price. I was given this piece of advice by an old friend who had been in federal prison: “Check your ego and personality at the door when you check in, and pick them back up on the way out.” It was sound advice.
Prison life is monotonous. I often say it was like the movie “Groundhog Day.” To survive the day-to-day grind you need to find a daily routine, whether it be working out, reading, painting, anything that helps keep your mind active and takes another day off the calendar.
The mental part of doing time can be the toughest hurdle. Dealing with missing your kids growing up — their day-to-day lives, birthdays, holidays, baseball games, fishing, whatever it is you enjoyed with your loved ones — can wear on you if you let it.
Pictures, letters, support and strength from home are vital to your well-being. I was fortunate and grateful to have the unselfish and unconditional love and support of my fiancee, Andrea Coutretsis, along with two wonderful kids, Michael and Nikki, to hang onto, and help me through my time.
It’s essential that you stay mentally strong. You can make the time bearable or you can let it eat away at you. It’s really only up to you. While I can’t say prison wasn’t difficult and certainly challenging at times, I can say prison is not the end. Rod, here’s some unsolicited advice. Go serve your time quietly, get out and then just move on with your life.
Scott R. Fawell, former chief of staff and campaign manager for former Gov. George Ryan, was convicted in 2003 of racketeering, fraud and other charges and spent four years and four months in federal prison. He cooperated with federal authorities in the prosecution of Ryan.
