Ex-governor guilty in plot to sell Obama senate seat

Ousted Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich was found guilty of trying to auction off President Barack Obama's vacated US senate seat and a host of other corruption charges. Blagojevich, 54, showed no reaction as jurors found him guilty of 17 of 20 counts in his second trial on the graft charges. His wife, Patti, burst into tears as the verdict was read. "Frankly, I am stunned," Blagojevich told reporters waiting in the lobby. "Patti and I are obviously very disappointed in the outcome.... We want to get home to our little girls and talk to them and try to sort things out." The Democratic governor was arrested in the midst of what prosecutors called a "political corruption crime spree" just weeks after Obama's historic November 2008 election. The FBI released a transcript of secret tape in which he called his chance to appoint a new senator to replace Obama "f(expletive) golden," and said " I'm not just gonna give it up for f(expletive) nothing." Blagojevich spent the months before his first trial proclaiming his innocence on the US media circuit, including during a short-lived stint on the TV show "Celebrity Apprentice," but in the end opted not to take the witness stand. His first trial ended in August with a conviction on a charge of lying to federal agents and a jury deadlocked on the 23 other counts in the indictment, including racketeering, bribery, attempted extortion, and wire fraud. Prosecutors immediately vowed to retry the case while the flamboyant politician and media phenomenon returned to the airwaves, pitching everything from his innocence to pistachios. Blagojevich took the stand the second time around, something court observers said did little to help his case. "At times I felt it was manipulative and I would have preferred to have just heard the facts," one juror said of his testimony. Prosecutors hailed the verdict as a "vindication" for the people of Illinois but called it a "bittersweet moment" just five years after Blagojevich's predecessor was convicted of corruption charges. "The jury sent a loud and clear message that governor Rod Blagojevich committed very serious crimes, shaking down a children's hospital, trying to sell a senate seat, demanding cash campaign contributions in advance before signing a bill," US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told reporters. "Perhaps this will send a clear message to elected officials in Illinois that public service is not a ticket for profiteering, and perhaps the national embarrassment for the state of Illinois has finally come to a close," added Robert Grant, special agent in charge of the Chicago branch of the FBI. The scandal shone a spotlight on Chicago's corruption-filled political scene, but Obama emerged essentially untainted. Five of the past nine Illinois governors have been indicted or arrested for fraud or bribery, and Blagojevich's predecessor, Republican George Ryan, is currently serving a six-and-a-half year jail term for fraud and racketeering. Blagojevich, the first Illinois governor to have been impeached and ousted from office, faces what is expected to be a lengthy prison sentence. The case helped Republican Mark Kirk narrowly beat a Democratic challenger and Obama protege to win the seat in November. Kirk released a statement commending prosecutors and saying the verdict "is a stark reminder that no one is above the law."