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Originally Posted by bkcunningham1
What were the charges against him? Someone refresh my memory. What was the outcome of the trial? Is it political when you discuss the actual facts of the case? I'm just trying to understand.
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There were approx. 24 charges against former Gov. Blagojevich. The most serious charges were "selling" Pres. Obama's U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder -- as governor, Rod Blagojevich had the power to appoint a successor in late 2008 to complete the last 2 years of Pres. Obama's U.S. Senate term which expires this fall. Of the 24 charges, the jury deadlocked on 23 charges and convicted RB on one charge -- of lying to the FBI in 2005. I believe this is the same charge that Martha Stewart went to prison for a few years ago -- I believe she served about 6 months in a federal prison. RB could get as much as 5 years in prison for lying to the FBI, but most media observers don't think his sentence would be that long. According to media reports on Chicago TV tonight, RB will most likely be retried in January, 2011 after the holidays. And he will probably be represented by 2 public defenders as his $2.7 million campaign fund was used to pay the expensive legal team for his first trial, and that money is all gone.
Laura