Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich will be heading to jail soon.
The second time was the charm for Illinois prosecutors who sought to bring former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to justice for very serious crimes, including demanding cash contributions in exchange for signing a bill into law; attempting to sell then-Senator Barack Obama’s seat to the highest bidder, and strong-arming a children’s hospital for cash.
Blago was involved with up to five “shakedown schemes,” at the time of his arrest, prosecutors charged during the retrial. Of the 17 counts, 11 of them involved the alleged sale of Obama’s vacated Senate seat; and then there were nine wire fraud charges, conspiracy to solicit a bribe, and attempted extortion.
Most pathetic was the charge that Blagojevich demanded bribes in order to do his job and that he held up official acts until he received a cash contribution. Such a demand even halted a grant for the Children’s Memorial Hospital.
Blagojevich was stunned by the verdict, and for good reason. During the first trial, in August 2010, Blago had the dream team father-and-son lawyers defending his case, and that jury let him off with a smack on the hand. Blagojevich was found guilty on one charge of giving a false statement to federal agents. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on 23 other counts against him.
Perhaps that jury gave Blago a pass because the politician didn’t take the witness stand. This time around, Blago manned the witness stand for seven whole days, as he defended himself, and the end result wasn’t good.
Members of the jury that convicted the former governor on 17 of 20 counts admit that the man with that glorious mane of hair is a likable guy — but in the end, his own words came back to haunt him. Prosecutors were determined not to let the showmanship derail their case against him. “You are a convicted liar, correct?”Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar asked Blago during the trial.
The charismatic immigrant who rose from obscurity to win the governor’s seat on a campaign of cleaning up Chicago politics, ultimately fell victim to the machine. Prosecutors argued that Gov. Blagojevich committed very serious crimes. Blagojevich’s goal was to put a little money away for him and his wife, Patti, and to negotiate a White House appointment for himself.
Rod Blagojevich was unsuccessful in his bid for payment, but according to prosecutors, the fact that he asked for money was the crime.
