Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday for 18 counts of corruption.

“When it is the governor who goes bad, the fabric of Illinois is torn, disfigured and not easily repaired,” said U.S. District Judge James Zagal, who sentenced Blagojevich. “The harm here is not measured in the value of money or property … the harm is the erosion of public trust in government.

Several Illinois politicians also spoke out about the sentencing.

“Rod Blagojevich ran as a reformer and proved to be worse than anything that came before him,” said Illinois Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka, who ran against Blagojevich in 2006, in a press release. “His reckless and self-serving handling of state finances has put Illinois billions of dollars in the whole and ensured that it will operate at a deficit for years to come.”

Lt. Gov. Sheila Simon said Blagojevich’s corruption alone will not change the state’s culture of corruption without serious ethics reform.

“We cannot rely on a prison sentence to deter corruption,” she said in a press release. “Illinois needs stronger ethics laws to kill pay-to-play politics. It’s time we expose conflicts of interest before they cost taxpayers and clear the way for true public servants to rebuild trust with the public.”