Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich wants to play previously sealed portions of wiretap recordings when he's sentenced next month.
In a filing Thursday, Blagojevich's lawyers say he should be allowed to use parts of tapes from a federal investigation to argue that he deserves a lighter sentence. They say those parts were blocked from being played at trial.
A jury convicted Blagojevich earlier this year on corruption charges.
Blagojevich's lawyers say those tapes will describe his state of mind and "lack of ill intent."
Blagojevich was retried this year and convicted on 17 of 20 charges, including attempted extortion for trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat. Jurors at his first trial deadlocked on all but one count.
A U.S. Attorney's spokesman declined to comment.
