On Thursday, he began serving a 14-year sentence for public corruption at a federal prison in Colorado.
The I-Team has learned how long Blagojevich will actually be in prison.
Since Blagojevich was sentenced in December, there were those who believed he would be able to check out of prison fairly quickly after only serving a small portion of the time as sometimes occurs in state criminal cases. But that is not what happens in the federal system where at least 85 percent of a sentence must be served.
The I-Team has learned that when the former governor gets out, he will be 67-years old.
"I look at it like a military base; like I'm reporting to do military service. That's a little game I play with myself. The reality is that it's a prison," said Blagojevich, prisoner #40892424.
However he deals with the passage of time, the time that passes will not change. As you expect, it has been on his mind.
While onboard the flight to Denver Thursday, Mr. Blagojevich spent a half-hour filling in dates on a paper calendar.
At the time, Blagojevich knew for certain only that on Thursday, March 15, he was going into prison. And early Thursday afternoon that is just what he did. But when he went in, he didn't know precisely when he would come out.
According to a Bureau of Prisons record, we do know.
Rod Blagojevich will be released from the penitentiary on May 23, 2024. That computes to 12 years and 2 months of his 14-year sentence. 4,444 days. 106,656 hours in captivity. 6,399,000,360 minutes.
Unless that changes - and it is unlikely to change - he will serve more than twice as many years in prison as he was governor of Illinois.
"This as bad as it is, is the beginning of another part of a long, hard journey that will only get worse before it gets better," Blagojevich said before he entered prison.
His daughters will be in their 20s. Former presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush will turn 100. Three presidential elections will have been held. Some predict that is the year Medicare will go broke.