John F. Harris

Who is John F. Harris?

John F. Harris is the former Chief of Staff to the Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich. He resigned in December 2008 after being charged, along with Blagojevich, with wire fraud .On March 28, 2012 Harris was sentenced by Judge James B. Zagel. In contrast to the 14 year sentence Judge Zagel previously handed down to former Governor Blagojevich, Harris was sentenced to a period of 10 days incarceration, two years supervised release and a $1000 fine. In imposing the unusually lenient sentence, Judge Zagel noted that the former Governor had worn down his staff and demonstrated signs of “mental instability.” Judge Zagel observed that other than leaving the administration earlier if he were in Harris’ shoes, he might have acted the same way. The Judge also acknowledged an unusual number of character reference letters in support of Harris that had been received from prominent city and state political and business figures.