The jury acquitted Blagojevich on one count of bribery and was unable to reach verdicts on two counts of attempted extortion.
The charges against Blagojevich included trying to peddle the U.S. Senate seat held by Barack Obama before he resigned to become president. Blagojevich has denied any intention of bribery.
Last August, after a two-month trial and 14 days of deliberation, jurors deadlocked on 23 of the 24 charges Blagojevich had faced. They found him guilty on one count of lying to FBI investigators, a conviction that could carry a prison sentence of five years.
The accusation that Blagojevich tried to profit as he considered whom to appoint to succeed Obama, among other allegations, prompted his impeachment by Illinois' House of Representatives and his removal from office by the state Senate in 2009.
Ten of the counts against him in the current trial are wire fraud. The other 10 involve extortion and bribery. Most of the counts have a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Blago will certainly appeal, but at this point it's up to a judge to see how long he spends in jail. He's pushing 55 as it is, so he could conceivably get a Madoff special and hundreds of years in jail, or something much shorter. Dunno.
Either way, I am neither surprised or saddened by this.
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