Rod Blagojevich corruption charges

Not to be confused with Rod Blagojevich controversies.
"Christopher Kelly (politician)" redirects here. For other politicians, see Christopher Kelly (disambiguation).

Blagojevich corruption scandal
Illinois Governor
Rod Blagojevich
Federal Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was found guilty on federal corruption charges regarding the filling of President Obama's vacant Senate seat and other charges.

Accused

  • Rod Blagojevich,[1] former Governor of Illinois
  • John Harris,[1] Blagojevich's chief of staff
  • Robert Blagojevich, the former governor's brother and head of his campaign fund, Friends of Blagojevich (All charges were dropped in August 2010)
  • Alonzo Monk,[1] former chief of staff
  • Christopher G. Kelly,[1] a Springfield businessman (Died after having entered a guilty plea but before beginning his prison sentence)
  • Ali Ata,[1] former director of Illinois Finance Authority under Blagojevich
  • Stuart Levine,[1] Blagojevich campaign contributor
  • Joseph Cari,[1] former finance chairman of Democratic National Committee
  • Tony Rezko,[1] fast-food entrepreneur and Chicago real estate developer. Major contributor to Illinois politicians
  • William Cellini,[1] Springfield power broker

Charges

  • Solicitation of bribes in exchange for Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat
  • Mail fraud
  • Attempting to bribe the Chicago Tribune with state funds
  • Abuse of power in attempting to gain campaign contributions from Children's Memorial Hospital

Federal Investigation

Results

  • Blagojevich impeached, unanimously removed from office and barred from holding office in the State.[2]
  • Indicted by a federal grand jury.[3]
  • Found guilty of one count of making false statements and a mistrial declared on 23 charges due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation. All charges against Robert Blagojevich dismissed.[4]
  • At retrial, found guilty of 11 charges of corruption related to Obama seat and 6 charges related to pay-to-play dealings for a hospital. Found not guilty of one count and jury deadlocked on one count of pay-to-play related to road construction. Jury deadlocked on one charge of fraud related to Rahm Emanuel.
  • Sentenced to 14 years in prison on December 7, 2011 (commuted to time served by President Donald Trump on by February 18, 2020).
  • Disbarred from practicing law in the State of Illinois May 18, 2020[5][6]

In December 2008, then-Democratic Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich and his Chief of Staff John Harris were charged with corruption by federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald. As a result, Blagojevich was impeached by the Illinois General Assembly and removed from office by the Illinois Senate in January 2009. The federal investigation continued after his removal from office, and he was indicted on corruption charges in April of that year.[3] The jury found Blagojevich guilty in August 2010 of one charge of making false statements with a mistrial being declared on the other 23 counts due to a hung jury after 14 days of jury deliberation.[4] On June 27, 2011, after a retrial, Blagojevich was found guilty of 17 charges (including wire fraud, attempted extortion, and conspiracy to solicit bribes), not guilty on one charge and the jury deadlocked after 10 days of deliberation on the two remaining charges.[7][8] On December 7, 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[9]

The investigation became public knowledge when a federal judge revealed that Blagojevich was the "Public Official A" in the indictment of Tony Rezko. The case gained widespread attention with the simultaneous arrests of Blagojevich and Harris on the morning of December 9, 2008 at their homes by federal agents.[10][11] Blagojevich and Harris were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of soliciting bribes. The case involved sweeping pay to play and influence peddling allegations, including the solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the U.S. Senate as a replacement for Barack Obama, who had resigned after being elected U.S. President.[12] U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald noted that there had been no evidence of wrongdoing by Obama.[13]

After the arrest, Illinois elected officials began calling on Blagojevich to resign. The 50 members of the U.S. Senate's Democratic caucus called on Blagojevich to not appoint a senator and pledged not to seat anyone he attempted to appoint. Legislators introduced bills in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly to remove the Governor's power to appoint a senator and require a special election; however, no such bill passed. Blagojevich did eventually appoint Roland Burris to the seat. Despite attempts to keep Burris from taking the seat in the U.S. Senate, he was eventually allowed to take the oath of office. Within days of Blagojevich's arrest, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a motion with the Illinois Supreme Court seeking to declare the Governor "unable to serve" and strip him of the powers of his office. The court denied the request. Meanwhile, Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan (the Attorney General's father) announced that on December 16 he would begin impeachment proceedings. The state House impeached Blagojevich on January 9, 2009, and the state Senate convicted him 20 days later, thereby removing him; they also disqualified him from holding further office in the state.[14]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. ^ Fox News (January 29, 2009). "Illinois Senate Kicks Blagojevich out". Archived from the original on January 31, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2009.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference SI was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Davey, Monica & Saulny, Susan (August 17, 2010). "Blagojevich, Guilty on 1 of 24 Counts, Faces Retrial". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 17, 2010. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  5. ^ Journal, A. B. A. "Illinois disciplinary panel recommends Rod Blagojevich be disbarred". ABA Journal. Archived from the original on January 16, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Rod Blagojevich officially disbarred by Illinois Supreme Court". WGN-TV. May 18, 2020. Archived from the original on August 29, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2020.
  7. ^ Davey, Monica (June 27, 2011). "Jury Finds Blagojevich Guilty of Corruption". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
  8. ^ Secter, Bob; Coen, Jeff (June 27, 2011). "Blagojevich convicted: 'I, frankly, am stunned,' former governor says after jury convicts him on 17 counts". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2020.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference sentence was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference GGW was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Johnson Dirk (December 9, 2008). "'A Senate Seat on Ebay': Inside the case against Illinois Gov. Blagojevich". Newsweek. Archived from the original on December 10, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  12. ^ Davey, Monica (December 9, 2008). "Illinois Governor in Corruption Scandal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  13. ^ Calabrisi, Massimo (December 10, 2008). "Can Obama Escape the Taint of Blagojevich". Time. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  14. ^ Curry, Tom (January 9, 2009). "A guide to the Blagojevich impeachment: It's a two-step process, with governor's own political adversaries as jurors". NBC News. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2011.