A US FEDERAL grand jury has charged former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich with racketeering, extortion and fraud, opening a new chapter in the prosecution of the voluble Democrat who could spend years behind bars if convicted.
The 75-page indictment issued on Thursday, which also charged Mr Blagojevich’s brother and several close aides, describes a political operation designed from the beginning of his first term to strengthen the governor’s hold on power and make money that Blagojevich would receive after he left office.
Mr Blagojevich, who was impeached and removed from office after his December 9th arrest, was charged with 16 counts, including 11 counts of wire fraud, three of extortion and one of lying to federal investigators.
He remains free on bond. No court hearing has been scheduled.
The indictment charges that Mr Blagojevich gave two friends, convicted developer Antoin Rezko and indicted businessman Christopher Kelly, significant authority over state boards and commissions, knowing they would profit from their roles.
In return, prosecutors contend, Rezko and Mr Kelly generated millions in campaign contributions and provided “financial benefits” to Mr Blagojevich and his family.
According to the indictment, Mr Blagojevich began to profit from Rezko’s work early in the first of his two terms as governor. In August 2003, Rezko paid Mr Blagojevich’s wife Patty $14,396 for a property deal in Chicago, although she had not performed any services. The payments soon grew, rising to $12,000 a month.
Rezko also allegedly gave Mr Blagojevich’s former counsel and chief of staff Lon Monk a series of $10,000 payments totalling $70,000 to $90,000. Mr Monk was charged in the indictment.
Also charged was Mr Blagojevich’s brother Robert, who became chairman of the governor’s campaign fund in August.
Rezko, a prodigious Democratic fundraiser convicted of influence peddling, became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign because of his former ties to President Barack Obama, for whom he raised money. In what Mr Obama has described as a “boneheaded” move on his part, the future presidential candidate and Rezko bought adjacent properties in Chicago from the same owner in July 2005. Mr Obama later purchased a slice of Rezko’s property to expand his garden. He said Rezko did not ask for any favours and was not granted any.
Mr Blagojevich lay at the centre of a painstaking, years-long investigation of corruption in a state that has become infamous for it. It was a world he knew well and campaigned against – his predecessors in Congress and the governor’s residence were both convicted of federal crimes – but in the words of prosecutors, he was worse.
“Even those of us who had questions about the governor’s ethics could not have imagined how nakedly he would have approached this,” said Dave Lundy, acting executive director of the Better Government Association.
The six-year investigation has led to charges against 17 people. “It’s pretty clear this is not the end of this process,” Mr Lundy said. “There are many more shoes to drop.”
The charges against Mr Blagojevich include allegations that he threatened to withhold $100 million or more in money for Wrigley Field stadium renovations if the Chicago Tribune did not fire editorial writers who had called for his impeachment. The newspaper and the stadium are owned by the same man, Sam Zell.
Mr Blagojevich also stands accused of offering to wheel and deal for Mr Obama’s seat, saying on tape: “I’ve got this thing and it’s [expletive] golden and I’m just not giving it up for [expletive] nothing.”
Mr Blagojevich, who knew he was under investigation but kept talking, said he would use three criteria in filling the seat Mr Obama resigned after he was elected president – “our legal situation, our personal situation, my political situation. This decision, like every other one, needs to be based upon that. Legal. Personal. Political.”
Determined to stock his campaign coffers before stricter ethics rules took effect on January 1st, Mr Blagojevich allegedly demanded money from executives in return for state business.
In one case, an executive at Chicago’s Children’s Memorial Hospital was asked to deliver a $50,000 campaign contribution in return for $8 million in state reimbursements to doctors who had treated children.
Mr Blagojevich called the impeachment case against him a witch-hunt and refused to answer questions from lawmakers or testify about details of the criminal investigation.– (Los Angeles Times-Washington Post service)
