CHICAGO – A jury in Chicago yesterday convicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts in a corruption trial, including on charges he tried to swap US president Barack Obama’s former Senate seat for personal gain.
Blagojevich, a two-term Democrat thrown out of office in 2009, was found guilty on all but three counts of attempting to secure personal benefit and campaign funds in exchange for appointing a US senator to fill the seat vacated by Mr Obama after he was elected president in 2008. – (Reuters)