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Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich aboard a plane heading to Colorado to serve his prison sentence on March 15.

Ed Andrieski / AP

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich walks with attorneys as he arrives at the Federal Correctional Institution Englewood in Littleton, Colo. on March 15, where he began serving his 14-year sentence for corruption.

AP reports -- Convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich arrived at the Colorado federal prison on Thursday to begin a 14-year sentence for corruption, the latest chapter in the downfall of a charismatic politician that seemed more like a bizarre reality TV show than a legal battle.

In what has become a familiar scene in the three years since Blagojevich was taken out of his home in handcuffs by federal agents, the former governor had earlier bounded down the stairs of his Chicago home as a throng of cameramen, photographers and reporters crushed around him and well-wishers shouted encouragement.

As he has done repeatedly before and after his conviction, Blagojevich sounded an optimistic and even defiant note.

"I'm leaving with a heavy heart, a clear conscience and I have high, high hopes for the future," said Blagojevich, wearing a dark shirt, sport coat and blue jeans. Continue reading.

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Tannen Maury / EPA

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich autographs a sign calling for his freedom outside his home on the day before he is to report to prison on his corruption conviction in Chicago on March 14.

M. Spencer Green / AP

Annie Blagojevich, daughter of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, watches as her father is surrounded by the media in front of their home, on March 14, 2012 in Chicago. The 55-year-old Democrat is due to report to a prison in Colorado on Thursday to begin serving a 14-year sentence, making him the second Illinois governor in a row to go to prison for corruption.

Tannen Maury / EPA

Blagojevich kisses his wife Patti as he speaks outside their home in Chicago, the day before he is to report to prison. Blagojevich was convicted for attempting to sell the US Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, among other charges.

Tannen Maury / EPA

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich speaks outside his home as his wife Patti stands by his side on the day before he is to report to prison on his corruption conviction in Chicago, Illinois, on March 14. Blagojevich was convicted for attempting to sell the US Senate seat formerly held by President Barack Obama, among other charges.

The inmate guidebook for one Federal Correctional Institution in the Midwest, shows just how different former governor Rod Blagojevich’s existence will be when he begins serving his 14-year prison term.   For the man who famously turned down living in Illinois’ palatial Governor’s Mansion, life is about to change in a big way.

The inmate guide for the prison in Milan, Mich., informs inmates that they can expect a complete medical and dental evaluation within two weeks of their arrival. Everyone is required to submit DNA samples, and an HIV test is required before departure. 

See video and read the original story at NBCChicago.com

If the governor is assigned to Milan, he will have a spending limit of $290 per month at the prison commissary. He can buy up to 60 first class stamps a week, but can’t have more in his possession at any time.  No cash is used in the institution.  He will have an inmate account, and there is a machine to check its balance.  

He will have to submit a list of up to 30 people he might have occasion to call on the telephone. 

The famous Blago hair will be cut by a prison barber.  Hours are 7:30 to 10:30 a.m., 11:30 to 3:30 p.m., and 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.  Prison regulations state that “there will be no hair cutting anywhere other than the barber shop.” 

While he used to enjoy the protection of State Police bodyguards, now Blagojevich will be subject to searches at any time.  Those can range from a patdown search, to strip searches, body cavity searches, and shakedowns of living areas.  The entire prison undergoes routine headcounts:  5 times a day during the week, and a “stand-up count” at 10:00 a.m. on weekends.

While the governor was well known as a snazzy dresser who dropped tens of thousands of dollars with a Chicago tailor, he will now be required to wear a khaki shirt and pants every day during the week, 7:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.  He must keep his shirt tucked in. 

No visiting is allowed in housing units where inmates do not live.  

There is no pay to play in prison.  Blagojevich will be informed that he cannot trade commissary privelidges with other inmates.  He cannot practice any kind of martial arts or kickboxing.  He will not be allowed to display any offensive photos in his living area. 

The former first lady and the Blagojevich children can visit Thursday through Sunday, and on Federal holidays, 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Patti must bring a photo i.d. for each visit, although none will be required for the children.  No Blagojevich visitors can have more than $20 on them during a visit, and none of that money can be given to the governor.  Visitors are not allowed to bring food, gum, newspapers, magazines, photos or photo albums, tapes, cameras, or cell phones. 

Blagojevich is eligible for what is known as the “Low” classification of facility.  In addition to Milan, there are four others in the Midwest:  Ashland, Kentucky, Elkton, Ohio, Sandstone, Minnesota, and Waseca, Minnesota.  He could request a “Medium” designation, the next higher security level.  That would include Oxford, Wisconsin, and Terre Haute, Indiana, where former governor George Ryan is currently serving his own six and a half year term.

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Those who have served time in the federal prison system say Rod Blagojevich is in for a wake-up call, especially because federal policy typically dictates that convicts facing more than 10 years don’t qualify to start their sentences at any of the minimum security prison camps, commonly called Club Fed.

"As soon as he has that first strip search, his life is going to be completely different," said former Cicero Town President Betty Loren Maltese, who served six years of an eight-year sentence for stealing $12 million in municipal funds in an insurance scam.

Illinois' former governor on Wednesday was sentenced to 14 years on federal corruption charges. Former convicts stressed that VIPs don’t get special treatment.

"From the moment you walk in there, it’s all pretty humiliating," said ex-Gov. George Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott Fawell, who served 52 months, mostly in a federal prison camp. "You get there... They sign you in, give you a number, hand you your bunk, your bedding and pillow and tell you what bunk you are in and you march down there and you look around as you are walking there and you think 'Oh my God!'"

Read the original story on NBCChicago.com's "Ward Room" blog

If anything, Fawell and Loren-Maltese said, the favored few in the outside world get harsher treatment inside the walls of a federal prison facility.

"They’ll call you in a little more. They’ll put a little more heat on you. They’ll try and put you in your place, so you understand you’re just like everybody else,” said Fawell.

Loren-Maltese agreed.

"You’re given assignments as soon as you get there. You’re known as what’s called A&O, Admissions and Orientation. So you have some of the worst jobs [like] cleaning toilets," she recalled.

"He will be on a strict regimen. You have 10-minute movement. You’re locked in at 8:30 at night until six in the morning, so it’ll be a big difference. A big difference," she added.

Blagojevich may spend the initial portion of his sentence in a traditional, prison-type setting, the location yet to be determined by The Bureau of Prisons. Typically, the agency tries to keep inmates no farther than 500 miles from immediate family. So options for the ex-governor include Pekin, Ill., Terre Haute, Ind., and Oxford, Wis.

"It’s a painful day leaving your family," recalled Fawell. "When you’re walking across those gates, you know it’s over for all intents and purposes, the life you’ve been living."

Blagojevich surrenders to prison on Feb. 16, 2012.

CHICAGO -- Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, a stiff penalty for the man convicted of trying to sell President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

Judge James Zagel gave Blagojevich some credit for taking responsibility for his actions — which the former governor did in an address to the court earlier in the day — but said that didn't mitigate his crimes. Zagel also said Blagojevich did some good things for people as governor, but was more concerned about using his powers for himself.

"When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired," Zagel said.

As the judge announced the sentence, which includes a $20,000 fine, Blagojevich hunched forward and his face appeared frozen. Minutes later, his wife, Patti Blagojevich, stood up and fell into her husband's arms. He pulled back to brush tears off her cheek and then rubbed her shoulders.

On his way out of the courthouse, Blagojevich spoke briefly to reporters, quoting from the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling: "If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same."

"This is a time for me to be strong for my children and for (wife) Patti ... a time for Patti and me to explain to our kids what this means and where we go from here... See you soon," he said. He then left without answering any questions.

The twice-elected Democrat received by far the harshest sentence among the four Illinois governors sent to prison in the last four decades. He is the second in a row to go to prison; his Republican predecessor, George Ryan, currently is serving 6 1/2 years. The other two got three years or less.

Blagojevich, in a last plea for mercy, tried something he never had before: an apology. After years of insisting he was innocent, he told the judge he'd made "terrible mistakes" and acknowledged that he broke the law.

"I'm here convicted of crimes ... ," Blagojevich said, "and I am accepting of it, I acknowledge it and I of course am unbelievably sorry for it."

But Zagel gave him little leeway, telling him that he gave him credit for taking responsibility but that his apology didn't mitigate his crimes.

"Whatever good things you did for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers when you wanted to do things that were only good for yourself."

Blagojevich's attorneys had said the sentence of 15 to 20 years prosecutors wanted was too harsh. The defense also presented heartfelt appeals from Blagojevich's family, including letters from his wife Patti and one of his two daughters that pleaded for mercy.

But the judge made it clear early in the hearing that he believed that Blagojevich had lied on the witness stand when he tried to explain his scheming for the Senate seat, and he did not believe defense suggestions that the former governor was duped by his advisers.

 Read local coverage of Blagojevich sentencing from NBC Chicago

"Rod Blagojevich's staff did not march him down the path of corruption," Zagel said during his sentencing. "He marched them."

The 54-year-old was not taken immediately into custody. His surrender date was set for Feb. 16. In white-collar cases, convicted felons are usually given at least a few weeks to report to prison while federal authorities select a suitable facility. Blagojevich is expected to appeal his conviction, but it is unlikely to affect when he reports to prison.

Most of the prisons where Blagojevich could end up are outside Illinois. One is in Terre Haute, Indiana, where Ryan is serving his own sentence. In prison, he'll largely be cut off from the outside world. Visits by family are strictly limited, Blagojevich will have to share a cell with other inmates and he must work an eight-hour-a-day menial job — possibly scrubbing toilets or mopping floors — at just 12 cents an hour.

According to federal rules, felons must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence a judge imposes — meaning Blagojevich wouldn't be eligible for early release until he serves nearly 12 years.

Going into the sentencing, many legal experts said the governor — who became a national punch line while doing several reality TV appearances while his legal case unfolded — was likely to get around 10 years. A former Blagojevich fundraiser, Tony Rezko, recently was sentenced to 10 1/2 years, minus time served, and many were confident the governor would get more.

Prosecutors have said Blagojevich misused the power of his office "from the very moment he became governor." He was initially elected in 2002 on a platform of cleaning up Illinois politics in the midst of federal investigations that led to the prosecution and conviction of Ryan.

"Blagojevich engaged in extensive criminal conduct with and without Rezko, provided no cooperation, perjured himself for seven days on the witness stand, and has accepted no responsibility for his criminal conduct," prosecutors said. And they said Blagojevich, who campaigned as a reformer, was "acutely aware of the damage" Ryan had created.

Defense attorneys have said he has already paid a price in public ridicule and financial ruin, and propose a term of just a few years.

Blagojevich's sentencing came just days before his 55th birthday on Saturday, and nearly three years to the day of his arrest at dawn on Dec. 9, 2008, when the startled governor asked one federal agent, "Is this a joke?" In a state where corruption has been commonplace, images of Blagojevich being led away in handcuffs still came as a shock.

Blagojevich was impeached from the governor's office after being charged with racketeering, bribery, wire fraud and attempted extortion.

It took two trials for prosecutors to snare Blagojevich on sweeping corruption charges. His first ended deadlocked with jurors agreeing on just one of 24 counts — that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery and attempted extortion.

FBI wiretap evidence proved decisive. In the most notorious recording, Blagojevich is heard crowing that his chance to name someone to Obama's seat was "f---ing golden" and he wouldn't let it go "for f---ing nothing."

NBC Chicago contributed to this story.

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John Gress / Reuters

Disgraced former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich leaves his Chicago home for the second day of his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

CHICAGO - Update, 1:30 p.m. ET: Judge sentences ousted Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich to 14 years in prison for corruption.

Update, 1:25 p.m. ET: Judge Zagel says he is considering issuing a 12.5 to 15.5-year jail sentence, NBC reports.

Update, 1:20 p.m. ET: Judge Zagel says "Blagojevich's staff did not march him down this criminal path. He marched them." He also says Blago's acceptance of responsibility will mean he will reduce his sentence, NBC News in Chicago reports. Sentence has not yet been handed down.

Update, 1 p.m. ET: The court has been called back into session, NBC reports. Judge James Zagel has asked the defendant to rise so he can announce the sentence.

Update, 12:45 p.m. ET: Before the court took 20-minute recess, Blagojevich told the judge, "I have nobody to blame but myself," reports NBC News. "I'm not blaming anybody. I realize I was mistaken. I realize the things that I thought were permissible were not."

Blagojevich also expressed remorse over the damage he's caused to his children. 

My "kids have to face the fact that their father is a convicted felon," he said. "And it's not like their name is Smith. They can't hide."

Update, 12:20 p.m. ET: Rod Blagojevich has told the judge at his sentencing hearing that he acknowledges his crimes and is "unbelievably sorry." He says the mistakes he's made have been "terrible mistakes."

The impeached Illinois governor spoke Wednesday as he waits to learn his punishment on charges that include trying to sell an appointment to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. 

Blagojevich's attorneys admitted for the first time Tuesday that he is guilty of corruption and accepts the verdicts against him, but said the sentence of 15 to 20 years prosecutors want is too harsh.

Original story (published at 12:02 p.m. ET): 

CHICAGO - After all his claims of innocence and facing years in prison, Rod Blagojevich let his lawyers make an admission that he has so far avoided — that he is, in fact, guilty of public corruption.

The former Illinois governor will get a chance to do the same Wednesday, when he is scheduled to address the judge who will decide his sentence.

Judge James Zagel signaled Tuesday he may be prepared to impose a stiff prison sentence, saying he thinks Blagojevich lied when he told jurors he never tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat for campaign cash or a top job.

Throughout the first day of his two-day sentencing hearing, the impeached executive-turned-reality TV star known for his jocular personality was somber and ill-at-ease, staring down at the floor. His wife sobbed as a letter from their daughter was read begging Zagel not to send Blagojevich to prison.

The hearing was a stark contrast to the circus atmosphere around Blagojevich's trials on multiple counts of corruption.

The conciliatory tone came as something of a surprise — just days after defense filings that, as many times before, stridently declared Blagojevich's innocence and said he had been duped by aides but never intended to cross any lines into illegality.

Attorney Sheldon Sorosky told Zagel it was illegal for Blagojevich to ask for a job for himself in exchange for naming Obama's replacement in the Senate.

"There's no doubt this is a crime to do this in relation to the Senate seat, we accept that," he said. "I am just saying that does not call for a 15- to 20-year jail" term as prosecutors have requested.

Sorosky made the same argument when he talked about the other crimes for which Blagojevich was convicted: shaking down a racetrack executive and a hospital executive, as well as lying to the FBI.

At Tuesday's hearing, Blagojevich ringed his hands and pulled nervously at his fingers, pausing occasionally to sip on a plastic bottle of Cherry Coke. Legal experts believe Blagojevich needs to express remorse for his actions when addressing the judge Wednesday.

Zagel, who has said he'll pronounce a sentence Wednesday, said early on during Tuesday's hearing that Blagojevich was clearly the ringleader of the schemes for which he was convicted and that he lied about his actions on the witness stand. The judge made it clear he did not believe a suggestion made by defense attorneys that Blagojevich was duped by aides and advisers.

"There is no question from his tone of voice that he was demanding," Zagel said of Blagojevich's comments on phone conversations secretly recorded by the FBI. "His role as leader is clearly shown by his actions."

And in a harsh assessment of Blagojevich's performance on the witness stand, Zagel said the former governor was lying when he testified that he planned to appoint the state's attorney general to Obama's seat in a political deal that is legal.

"I think this is untrue," Zagel said. "I thought it was untrue when he said it and I think it is still untrue."

Defense to judge: Think of his family
Defense attorney Aaron Goldstein pleaded with the judge not to impose a lengthy prison sentence — not for Blagojevich's sake, but for that of his family. In an emotional few minutes before proceedings ended for the day, Goldstein said locking Blagojevich up for a long time would devastate his wife and two daughters.

When Goldstein began reading a letter to the judge from Blagojevich's older daughter, 15-year-old Amy, the former governor suddenly seemed to fight to maintain his composure, fidgeting with a pen, biting on his lip. An attorney turned to gently pat his shoulder.

Amy wrote that she needs her father for all the things that will happen in her life — graduation from high school, applying to college and when her heart gets broken. In another letter, Blagojevich's wife, Patti, asked Zagel to "please be merciful" and said the punishment her husband fears the most is not seeing his daughters grow up.

Zagel seemed engaged in what Goldstein was saying as he described Blagojevich as a father. Patti Blagojevich began sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks, then dabbing her reddened face with a tissue. She closed her eyes tight, tears still rolling down her face, when Goldstein played a tape recording of a giddy Blagojevich calling his younger daughter, who is now 8, and putting on a high baby-like voice, saying "Hey Annie!"

A second defense attorney told the judge that Illinois history of political corruption shouldn't count against Blagojevich. Carolyn Gurland said it would be unfair to Blagojevich for Zagel to impose a tougher sentence because other Illinois politicians, including former Gov. George Ryan and U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, have been sent to prison for corruption.

"The law is clear that he should not be punished because of the history of corruption in Illinois," she said.

If Blagojevich gets the 15 to 20 years in prison, she said, he would become the most severely punished public official in state history.

Prosecutors say the twice-elected governor not only shirked all responsibility for his crimes but repeatedly thumbed his nose at the U.S. justice system. Blagojevich's attorneys have said he has already paid a price in public ridicule and financial ruin, and propose a term of just a few years.

Gurland also argued that Zagel should take into account the fact that Blagojevich did not "receive a single penny" in ill-gotten gains, unlike other politicians convicted of public corruption.

"Rod Blagojevich received nothing," she said, adding that Blagojevich was doing what politicians do by seeking campaign contributions and not "money stuffed into envelopes."

Blagojevich and his wife knew they were setting themselves up for ridicule by appearing on reality television shows, she said, but they did so to provide for their children. Blagojevich appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice," where he struggled to use a cellphone, and his wife ate a tarantula on the reality show, "I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!"

Blagojevich's sentencing comes just days before his 55th birthday and three years to the week of his Dec. 9, 2008, arrest. The jury deadlocked in his first trial, agreeing on just one of 24 counts — that Blagojevich lied to the FBI. Jurors at his retrial convicted him on 17 of 20 counts, including bribery.

Among the court attendees Tuesday were more than a dozen jurors from both of Blagojevich's trials, including both foremen.

After sentencing, Zagel will likely give Blagojevich weeks before he must report to prison. Once there, the man heard scoffing on FBI wiretaps about earning a low six-figure salary would have to take a prison job — possibly scrubbing toilets — at just 12 cents an hour.