Rod Blagojevich, disgraced Illinois governor, has just had his trial finished. Two weeks of deliberation left the grand jury giving a single guilty verdict out to him. Blagojevich was only convicted of one count of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Since he gave false statements to the government, five years in prison could possibly be given, although sentencing hasn’t happened yet. Federal prosecutors have decided to re-try Blagojevich already.
Verdict took two weeks to decide
It was about two years ago when Rod Blagojevich was arrested because he tried selling the U.S. Senate seat that Barack Obama left empty. This led him to be impeached and removed from office. He faced 24 different accusations of corruption. After two weeks, the jury, which had been mostly deadlocked before then, came back with only one clear verdict. The judge declared a mistrial on 23 of the 24 accounts and announced the guilty verdict on one count of providing a false statement to the FBI.
U.S. Attorney will file for a retrial
U.S. Attorney’s office officials have claimed a retrial of Blagojevich are near, reports New York Times. He was nevertheless convicted, after all, of one count of lying to the FBI. Up to $ 250,000 in a fine or five years in prison will be given to him because of this federal crime. Many hope both will happen.
Politics in Chicago are generally corrupt. The previous governor before Rod Blagojevich, George Ryan, was also removed from office and convicted. Ryan was convicted of corruption putting him in federal prison. We do not know where Rod Blagojevich will be since a second trial may be happening soon. He might have the fate of five years in prison.
