Charges Dropped Against Blagojevich Brother
Good news for Rod Blagojevich's brother, Robert -- federal prosecutors recently announced that they are dropping charges stemming from his brother's corruption trial. The 55 year-old businessman headed Rod Blagojevich's fundraising, a program that was found to be soliciting some questionable contributions.
More specifically, Rod Blagojevich (who was already convicted on one count in his 24 count trial) attempted to get campaign financing from Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. in exchange for placement in President Obama's vacated senate seat. For those needing a political refresher: senate seats cannot be bought or sold.
The Chicago Sun Times reports that the decision to drop the four charges against Blagojevich was primarily the result of the different roles the two brothers played in the highly publicized corruption case, citing the "interests of justice" as the motivating factor. Translation: maybe both brothers were behaving badly, but Rod was the real mastermind behind the illegal activities. The prosecution's focus has now completely shifted to Rod Blagojevich. The Times quotes one juror on the case, "In the grand scheme of things, Rob's not that big of a part of the picture."
Now completely out of the picture, Rob Blagojevich responded to the surprising ruling issued by the court, "It's stunning. The government did the right thing. I'm an innocent man. I've done nothing wrong. The majority of the jury thought that was the case." Unfortunately, Rod will not be as lucky as his brother -- federal prosecutors have already announced plans to retry Blagojevich on the counts that had the jury deadlocked the first time around sometime early next year.
Related Resources:
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Sparing Rob Blagojevich (Chicago Tribue)
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Blagojevich Corruption Trial Turns to Wiretaps (FindLaw's Blotter)
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The Supreme Court's Recent Landmark Campaign Finance Decision (FindLaw's Writ)