Blagojevich Guilty of 17 Corruption Charges

A federal jury found Rod Blagojevich guilty on 17 of the 20 corruption charges leveled against him.

Most notably, Blagojevich was convicted of all 11 counts of trying to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after Obama was elected President in 2008 reports the Chicago Tribune. This includes an attempt to give the seat to Jesse Jackson Jr. in exchange for $1.5 million in campaign contributions.

Blagojevich was also convicted of all three counts of attempting to shake down Children’s Memorial Hospital and a racetrack executive. In both cases, Blagojevich was alleged to have demanded campaign contributions in exchange for some state action reports the Tribune.

In addition, Blagojevich was convicted of wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, and conspiracy.

The jury deadlocked on one count of shaking down a construction executive and one count for allegedly shaking down Rahm Emanuel.

Blagojevich's conviction follows his conviction just last summer for lying to the FBI. While that charge could land Blagojevich in prison for five years, last year's trial was generally considered a disappointment to prosecutors as the jury deadlocked on the other 23 charges made against him.

Now with this resounding victory, prosecutors are likely to push for far more jail time for Blagojevich. In all, Blagojevich could be sentenced to 300 years in prison.

The judge has not yet set a date for sentencing. However, a 300-year sentence is pretty unlikely for Rod Blagojevich's corruption convictions. Regardless, the former Illinois governor should expect to spend the next few years in prison for abusing his position of power, and his position of trust, for his own personal gain.

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