Rod Blagojevich Appeal 'Extraordinary,' Prosecutors Say
Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich filed an appeal on charges that he attempted to sell President Obama's former Senate seat. Prosecutors in the case have responded to that appeal with 169 pages of rebuttal, urging the Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago to uphold the guilty verdict.
"This is an extraordinary claim," the filing reads. "No matter the price he charges, a public official who sells his office engages in crime, not politics."
Blagojevich is currently serving a 14-year term in a Colorado prison after being convicted on 18 counts of misconduct, including trying to sell the Senate seat once held by President Obama. Prosecutors played audiotapes of Blagojevich's conversations with parties interested in the Senate seat.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"I've got this thing and it's [expletive] golden," Blagojevich was overheard saying on a wiretap. "And I'm just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing."
The former Governor never admitted any wrongdoing and has requested a new trial based upon errors they allege against jurors and Judge James Zagel.
According to the appeal, Blagojevich alleges that Zagel allowed a biased juror to sit in on the hearing, which helped assure a guilty verdict and put Blagojevich behind bars. Yet the prosecutors found no wrongdoing against Zagel or the juror, known only as Juror 174.
"Juror 174 told the court he believed he could do that [be unbiased and sit on the jury] and stated that he would do that," prosecutors stated in the filing. "Nothing in the juror's comments suggested that he had 'an irrational or unshakeable bias.'"
Blagojevich joins other Illinois governors convicted of misconduct and doing time in prison. Former Governor George Ryan was convicted of federal corruption and was released from custody in July of this year after serving more than five years in prison and several months in home confinement.
