Chicago - A jury in Chicago on Monday convicted former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich on 17 of 20 counts in a corruption trial, including on charges he tried to trade 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 Obama after he was elected president in 2008.
This was his second trial. Blagojevich was convicted of one count of lying to federal officials in his first trial last August. But the jury couldn't reach a decision on the other counts, and prosecutors opted to retry him. - Reuters