Washington, August 18: A former Illinois governor has been convicted of lying to US federal agents in a case involving his attempt to sell Barack Obama’s vacated senate seat after winning the 2008 presidential election.
After two weeks of deliberations, jurors in Chicago found Rod Blagojevich guilty on Tuesday of a single criminal offense of making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The verdict carries a maximum five-year jail sentence and is considered one of the least severe offenses among the original 24 criminal counts filed against him.
The jury panel was, however, unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any of the other 23 counts against the former governor.
The 53-year-old Blagojevich was arrested last year over a number of corruption charges — including wire fraud, racketeering, bribery and abuse of power. Later, the Illinois State Senate voted to remove him from office.
Among the charges filed against him is the allegation that he had tried to sell the Illinois Congressional Senate seat, once held by US President Barack Obama until his election into office in 2008.
Even though prosecutors immediately announced that they intend to retry the case “as quickly as possible,” the outcome of Tuesday’s verdict is seen as sort of a victory for Blagojevich.
The former governor, for his part, once again proclaimed his innocence as he left the court, reiterating that he would soon appeal against the single guilty count of lying to FBI agents.
——-Agencies