CHICAGO – Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich was indicted Thursday on charges of trying to auction off President Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat along with new corruption allegations that he tried to extort a congressman.
[...]
Prosecutors also accused Blagojevich and members of his inner circle of scheming to line their pockets with millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains, squeezing contractors, hospital owners and others seeking state business for kickbacks they planned to split after the governor left office.
"I'm saddened and hurt but I am not surprised by the indictment. I am innocent," Blagojevich said in a statement.
[...]
The indictment alleges Blagojevich told an aide he wanted to stall a $2 million state grant to a school that was championed by a congressman until the lawmaker's brother held a political fundraiser for the governor. The congressman's identity wasn't released.
It also says Blagojevich was involved in a corrupt scheme to get a massive kickback in exchange for the refinancing of billions of dollars in state pension funds.
[...]
Others charged were former chief of staff Alonzo Monk; another former chief of staff, John Harris; brother Robert Blagojevich; onetime chief fundraiser Christopher G. Kelly; and Springfield lobbyist-millionaire William F. Cellini.
Prosecutors said Harris has agreed to cooperate.
Blagojevich was indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy and attempted extortion, and making false statements. Most of those charges carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Blagojevich, 52, was arrested Dec. 9 on a criminal complaint and U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald had faced a Tuesday deadline supplant it with an indictment handed up by a federal grand jury. The Democrat's arrest led to his political downfall: The Illinois House impeached him Jan. 9. The Senate convicted him and removed him from office Jan. 29.
MORE...About time.
It's sleazeballs like this that make somebody like me disgusted with most politicians of any party and with all the sludgepile of lies and the talking heads that support those lies. And all charges have been dropped against corrupt Ted Stevens, too. Go figure.
