Operation Board Games investigation winding down with Cellini conviction

By Jamey Dunn 

Springfield businessman William Cellini, a longtime Illinois political insider, was convicted on two federal felony charges today in Chicago.

Cellini was accused of attempting to extort campaign contributions for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich from Thomas Rosenberg, an investment firm owner and movie producer, in exchange for business handling pension investments for the state. Blagojevich was convicted on 17 corruption counts in June.

A jury found Cellini guilty of conspiracy to commit extortion and aiding and abetting bribery. He was found not guilty on two other charges, attempted extortion and mail and wire fraud.

Cellini’s lawyers painted him as and innocent go-between, saying he had nothing to do with any plans to squeeze campaign funds from Rosenberg but only delivered information to him. “We made our points. Obviously I’m very grateful that the jury appears to have agreed and at least has thrown out the most serious charges against Mr. Cellini,” Attorney Dan Webb told reporters in Chicago today.

“Shaking someone down and threatening them with loss of business is a crime,” U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said today in Chicago. He said the conviction should make power brokers in Springfield and Chicago think twice before committing any illegal backroom deals. “The fact that Bill Cellini was convicted today sends a very, very loud message there.” Fitzgerald said that the investigation dubbed "Operation Board Games" — which led to the convictions of Blagojevich, his confidante Tony Rezko, Stuart Levine, who testified against Cellini, and others — is not officially closed because some defendants have appealed their convictions. However, he said he was not “predicting anything in the future” in regards to the investigation.  

“I think clearly the whole corruption problems that occurred under the Ryan administration and then under Blagojevich — we have to root out every single manifestation, and that’s what I’ve tried to do since January 29 of 2009,” Gov. Pat Quinn told reporters in Chicago today. “We’ve passed ethics laws. We’ve established strong standards of conduct, and we enforce them,”  Quinn said that “more than anything,” his “mission” is to “clean up Illinois government.”

More info on the Cellini trial see: 

The verdict and reactions from the Chicago Sun-Times.  

A reaction from Cellini's former Gov. Jim Edgar. 

Coverage from the Chicago Tribune.

A timeline of Cellini's life from the State Journal-Register.

Prosecutors: Blagojevich verdict reached after fair trial

By Jamey Dunn

Prosecutors say former Gov. Rod Blagojevich has no grounds to fight his conviction on corruption charges.

A federal jury convicted Blagojevich on 17 out of 20 counts in June. Blagojevich’s lawyers filed a complaint earlier this month seeking to have the convictions tossed out based on several claims, including judicial bias and a tainted jury pool. The complaint said U.S. District Judge James Zagel favored the prosecution, and some members of the jury had heard of Blagojevich’s case and said they thought he might be guilty. The motion also reiterated the defense's longstanding complaint that not all the audio recordings the government had of the former governor’s telephone calls were played during the trial.

The prosecution countered that Blagojevich was convicted after a fair trial, and the defense’s claims do not meet the “high burden” set for overturning a jury’s ruling. “In making these arguments [the] defendant disregards what the evidence at trial established and what the jury concluded — that the defendant knowingly engaged in a scheme to abuse his power as governor in exchange for personal  financial gain. In reality, there was no bias, manipulation or unfairness on the part of the prosecution judge or jury. [The] defendant was fairly convicted by a jury of his peers based on overwhelming evidence, and his post-trial motion therefore should be denied,” said the prosecution’s response, which was filed today.

Blagojevich’s lawyers argued that jurors should have been allowed to hear all of the former governor’s telephone calls from the time period when the government was gathering evidence against him. The complaint accuses prosecutors of “cherry picking” conversations. However, the response said the other calls were irrelevant and some of the calls the defense wanted to submit were never recorded. “This court properly rejected the defendant’s request for discovery of evidence that either did not exist or that was completely irrelevant to any issue in the case,” the response stated.

As for the claims that Blagojevich faced a tainted jury, the prosecution said the former governor dragged his own case into the limelight with the intent of reaching possible jurors. The response said that jurors who knew about the case said they could put their opinions aside to give Blagojevich a fair shake. “[The] defendant engaged in an unprecedented national media campaign executed with the help of [a] retained public relations firm for the purpose of influencing public opinion, and that campaign was bound to have some impact, even if it was not the impact [the] defendant had hoped for.” However, the defense complained that a news conference held on the day of Blagojevich’s arrest — where U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the former governor’s behavior "would make Lincoln roll over in his grave” — also colored public opinion.

Zagel has yet to rule on the defense's request for a new trial. The former governor’s sentencing date is scheduled for October 6. Blagojevich also faces sentencing for a previous conviction of lying to federal officers.

Blagojevich verdicts may spark more reforms

By Jamey Dunn

Another of Illinois’ past governors faces potential years behind bars after being convicted on the majority of the corruption charges he was facing. But some Illinois officials warn it is not yet time to close the book on the state’s history of corruption.

A jury today convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on 17 out of 20 counts. The jury found him not guilty on one count connected to an alleged plot to squeeze campaign money from road construction firms before he would sign a tollway plan that would benefit some builders. The jury did not come to a verdict on another charge related to that scheme and one tied to an alleged attempt to strong-arm U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel, now mayor of Chicago, into arranging a Blagojevich fundraiser before the governor would release a grant to the Chicago Academy. The defense called Emanuel to testify in the former governor’s retrial. Prosecutors reportedly do not plan to retry Blagojevich on the two charges that they jury could not agree on.

The jury found Blagojevich guilty on charges related to his most well-known scheme, attempting to sell Barack Obama’s former Senate seat for personal or political gain. He was also convicted on charges relating to him trying to get representatives of the horse racing industry to trade campaign contributions for his signature on a bill that would benefit them, as well as holding up legislation related to funding in an attempt to extort campaign contributions from the chief operating officer of Children’s Memorial Hospital.

“There’s not much left to say other than we want to get home to our little girls,” Blagojevich told reporters as he left the federal courthouse today. He said he was “stunned” and wanted to go home to explain what happened to his two daughters and decide what to do next.

“I’m sure we’ll be seeing you guys again,” he quipped, alluding to a potential appeal. Blagojevich was allowed to go home today, but he is not allowed to travel out of the federal Northern District of Illinois without permission from Judge James Zagel, who has presided over both of Blagojevich’s trials.

In his first criminal trial, Blagojevich was convicted of one charge of lying to federal officers. That jury could not reach an agreement on 23 other counts. Blagojevich decided not to testify at that trial, but he spent days on the stand in his retrial. Sam Adam Jr., who represented Blagojevich in his first trial but not in the most recent one, said that he thinks the jury didn’t believe what the former governor said in his own defense. “It’s obvious that the jury wanted to make a statement, and they made a statement,” Adam told WLS-TV Chicago. “It just seems the jury in this particular case didn’t buy what he had to say.”

Adam said he thinks Blagojevich has grounds for an appeal based on the courts refusal to allow the defense to present some of the pieces of his recorded phone conservations. He added that Blagojevich was unable to “corroborate” his testimony with this barred evidence. “I think he’ll end up vindicated,’ Adam said. He said he would work on an appeal if tapped to do so.

Adam predicted that if an appeal is not successful, Blagojevich could be sentenced to between five and nine years for his convictions. “He’s looking at some serious time here.” Adam added that if Zagel determines that Blagojevich lied during his testimony, the sentence could be longer.

“I'm glad that the verdict is finally in on Rod Blagojevich. However, this closes only one chapter of Democrat corruption in Illinois. Illinois Democratic politicians who now try everything they can to hide their past support of Rod Blagojevich should look themselves in the mirror and remind themselves that little has changed since the day Blagojevich was arrested,” Illinois Republican Party Chair Pat Brady said in a prepared statement. Republicans will likely try to make Illinois Democrats, including President Barack Obama and anyone else who said something positive in the past about the now-convicted felon, live down the legacy of Blagojevich in the next few election cycles.

However, many Democrats have been distancing themselves from the former governor for years, so time will tell whetherf Blagojevich’s conviction will become effective campaign fodder.

"Once again, the former governor's pattern of dishonesty has been confirmed. I thank the jury for its public service. Just as it was sad but necessary for the Senate to remove him from office, today is another sad event for Illinois. I would hope that this verdict would further allow us as a state to move on and ahead,” Senate President John Cullerton said in a written response to the verdict.

Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno called on Illinois lawmakers to approve more reforms. In the wake of Blagojevich’s arrest, the General Assembly approved a campaign finance reform law that for the first time in Illinois caps the contributions politicians can accept. Lawmakers also enacted new ethics rules for state employees, as well as a new process for the way the state enters into contracts with vendors. However, Republicans have pushed for laws to lower campaign contribution caps and limit party contributions, with no gains over the last few years.

“It was clear that Rod Blagojevich conspired to use the governor's office for personal gain. He inflicted real, permanent damage on the state during his six years in office. Unfortunately, future generations will be paying for his administration for years to come,” Radogno said in a prepared statement. “I am as anxious as everyone to now put this sordid chapter in our state’s history behind us. But some will want to use this verdict to close the door on reform. Instead, it is our job as elected officials to make sure the public has confidence in the integrity of their government. We all have a responsibility to send a clear signal that Illinoisans do not need to tolerate even the appearance of conflicts of interest by elected officials.”

Gov. Pat Quinn agreed. “This is a serious day for our state,” Quinn said at a Chicago news conference. He said Blagojevich’s conviction, along with the previous conviction of former Gov. George Ryan on corruption charges, “underlines … for every person in Illinois the importance of reforming our government on a daily basis from top to bottom.”

He called for lawmakers to revisit several additional ethics provisions. Quinn said legislators should consider allowing open primaries in the state, imposing a mandatory “conflict of interest” requirement on themselves and extending the recall power to all elected offices. Quinn pushed a constitutional amendment approved last November, which allows Illinois voters to recall governors. “I also think that looking at campaign finance again is something worth trying,” he said.

Quinn renewed a call to allow citizens to present ethics laws through a voter initiative system. He tried to tack such a provision onto a bill through an amendatory veto last year, but lawmakers did not take up the veto for a vote. Experts said that the plan would likely not fit into the narrow voter initiative requirements in the state’s Constitution. This time, Quinn is calling for a constitutional amendment. “There’s a lot to be done. I’m sure there are many people with many ideas,” he said.

Quinn said he did not feel the need to apologize for supporting his former running mate in the past, saying Blagojevich had “deceived” him and others. “I have nothing to apologize for because I know I do things in an honest way.”

He said it is regrettable that two of his predecessors, Blagojevich and Ryan, may soon be behind bars. “I’m very sorry that happened to [the Blagojevich] family, but you have to be accountable for your deeds.”

Blagojevich retrial expected in January

Gov. Rod Blagojevich will not face a retrial on corruption charges until January. His brother, Robert Blagojevich, will not face another trial at all.

Federal prosecutors dropped the four corruption counts against Robert that stemmed from four months he spent heading up his brother’s fundraising efforts in 2008.

Robert testified during the first trial, but the former governor did not. The jury was unable to reach agreement on any of the counts against Robert. Members of the jury have since told reporters they think he got caught up in an ongoing scheme and may not have intended to break the law.

Judge James Zagel said he plans to set a trial date for the former governor to begin no earlier than January 4. Blagojevich was convicted on one count of lying to federal agents, but the jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision on 23 other charges.

As Blagojevich celebrates, prosecutors plan

By Jamey Dunn

While Rod Blagojevich and his legal team seemed to celebrate a victory almost akin to an acquittal, federal prosecutors did not hesitate in getting the ball rolling on another corruption trial for the former governor. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said a hearing to set a new trial date is scheduled for Aug. 26.

The jury did find Blagojevich guilty on the charge of lying to federal agents. The count alleges he made a false statement to FBI agents in 2005 ,when he told them that he kept his role as governor and his fundraising enterprises completely separate, saying he kept a “firewall” between the two.

However, jurors did not come to a conclusion on the 23 other counts, including those connected to Blagojevich allegedly attempting to sell Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat, hold up funding for a children's hospital and a school to extort campaign money and fundraising help, and use his elected office for personal gain.

Jurors also couldn’t agree on the four corruption charges that Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, faced stemming from his time heading the former governor’s fundraising efforts.

“I didn’t let you down. The jury has shown that the government couldn’t prove that I did anything wrong,” Rod Blagojevich said at a courthouse news conference. Blagojevich accused the prosecution of persecuting him since his arrest last December and called the felony charge he was convicted on “nebulous.” He said he plans to appeal the convictions.

Blagojevich’s father-and-son legal team, Sam Adam and Sam Adam Jr., both took personal responsibility for the single conviction ,saying it was a result of their showings as lawyers, not Blagojevich’s guilt.

Sam Adam Jr. said that the verdict proved a claim he had made early in the trial. “You are going to find out that he is a fundamentally non-corrupt individual. He is not corruptible.”

Adam went on to say that a retrial would be a waste of taxpayers' money and that prosecutors should instead give “the money that [they] would spend on a retrial … back to the people of Illinois.”

Republicans — who will likely revisit the trial and verdict throughout their campaigns for the November general election — were quick to respond by issuing a flurry of statements.

“While we hoped this decision would mark the end of an unfortunate chapter and put this embarrassing episode behind us, today’s conviction of Rod Blagojevich for lying to federal law enforcement officials will likely result in further action in the pursuit of justice. But one thing is clear: The people of Illinois are rightly frustrated about the unchecked power of politicians like Rod Blagojevich who put the special interests before taxpayers. This important election in November marks the single best opportunity in our lifetime to finally clean house in Springfield,” Sen. Bill Brady, Republican candidate for governor said in a written statement.

However, Gov. Pat Quinn was a little slower to give his thoughts. After canceling two public events at the Illinois State Fair, he held a news conference late in the evening and called for unity.

“Whatever your party, whatever you region, whatever your beliefs, we are Illinoisans and we are all Americans.”

Quinn added: “Clearly today is a sad day for our state. Another former governor was convicted of a felony by a jury of 12 men and women, good and true.”

He declined to discuss the other counts against Blagojevich, saying they still had to be decided by a jury. After giving his statement, Quinn started to walk toward his office as reporters shouted questions. He then seemed to reconsider and returned to the lectern.

When asked if he had any culpability in Blagojevich’s alleged corruption because he ran for reelection with Blagojevich after rumors of wrongdoing had surfaced, Quinn said: “When I saw something that wasn’t right, I decided to go for the power of recall. … I think that is the best way to deal with an issue that we saw in government. If there is a situation where the voters feel an incumbent is not keeping true to the public, then there ought to be a way for the public to act.”

Political scientists and Statehouse watchers took a long view, saying Blagojevich should not be treating the verdict as a victory and that the system worked — at least to some degree.

“It is serious. It’s a felony. … He’ll probably lose his law license. He’s going to jail,” said Kent Redfield, an emeritus professor at the University of Illinois Springfield and director of the Sunshine Project, a nonprofit campaign contribution database connected to the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

Charlie Wheeler, longtime Statehouse reporter for the Chicago Sun-Times and current director of the Public Affairs Reporting program at the University of Illinois at Springfield, said until the jury talks to the media, it is too early to speculate on what the outcome may mean or on the odds of conviction in a retrial. “The only thing on which there is any clarity is the fact that 12 people decided that he did lie to federal agents. … It’s only a [Blagojevich] victory in the sense that [he hasn’t] lost yet.”

(Note: Juror's reportedly left the courthouse today without making statements. For some insight on the jurors' deliberation, see the Chicago News Cooperative, Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times' Blago Blog, which are reporting on jurors' early statements. )

Blagojevich pleads not guilty

Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich pleaded not guilty today in Chicago at his arraignment on new federal charges.

After leaving the courthouse, Blagojevich addressed reporters. He called on prosecutors to publicly play all taped conversations they have relating to his corruption case.

“I challenge the government. If you are on the side of truth and justice, as you say you are, and if this was a crime spree like you claim it was, then don’t hide behind technicalities. Play the tapes,” he said. Blagojevich’s lawyers filed a motion that would allow them to play as much of the tapes at the trial as they choose.

Blagojevich’s trial is set for June.

Blagojevich indicted, again

Federal prosecutors indicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich a second time today.

The eight new charges in the indictment do not allege any new criminal behavior. The indictment upholds all the previous charges but also alleges that Rod Blagojevich, Rob Blagojevich and former chief of staff John Harris’ actions violated additional laws.

Prosecutors hope to ensure that an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court ruling relating to some of the original charges will not delay Blagojevich’s trial

Operation Board Games gets another witness

By Bethany Jaeger
Alonzo “Lon” Monk is cooperating in the ongoing investigation into extensive political corruption in former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s office and political campaign. Monk pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to one count of wire fraud.

That’s just one of 19 counts leveled on participants in “Blagojevich Enterprise," which the feds allege primarily existed to “exercise and preserve power over Illinois government for the financial and political benefit of Blagojevich,” as well as his family members and friends. According to Monk’s plea, he received about seven to nine payments of $10,000 from Tony Rezko as “a gift, not a loan.” Monk joins list of witnesses in the governor’s June 2010 trial, so far including:

• John Harris, another former chief of staff who in July pleaded guilty to tax fraud.
• Rezko, who pleaded guilty in June 2008 and already is serving a prison sentence.
• **The late Christopher Kelly, who would have been a key witness, apparently committed suicide days after pleading guilty to other charges in September.

Monk’s plea agreement is here.

Monk, of Park Ridge, was Blagojevich’s former law school roommate, his general counsel when in Congress, his first chief of staff when he became governor in 2003, his campaign manager in his 2002 and 2006 gubernatorial bids and, most recently, a lobbyist. One of Monk's clients included a horse racetrack owner, reportedly John Johnston.

Monk’s guilty plea pertains to a scheme in November to December 2008 to pressure Johnston to raise $100,000 for Blagojevich’s political campaign (see Count 11 of the April indictment).

Part of the scheme allegedly was caught on secret FBI recordings. One brief conversation, according to the federal transcripts, was between Monk and Johnston about supporting Blagojevich’s campaign in return for the governor’s signature on a bill to subsidize the horse racing industry. The recording was played during Blagojevich’s impeachment trial in the Senate last January.

Monk, who was a lobbyist at the time of the recordings, was heard in another cell phone conversation with Blagojevich, telling the governor to call Johnston directly. “It’s better if you do it just from a pressure point of view,” Monk was heard saying to Blagojevich.

The scheme allegedly was under time constraints, as Blagojevich wanted the money before the end of the year, when a new state law — the so-called pay-to-play ban — would ban him from collecting political donations from contractors who do significant amounts of business with the state.

Monk’s plea also confirms conversations and actions taken to enrich themselves and Blagojevich’s campaign fund. For instance, before Blagojevich became governor in 2002, the plea says, Monk planned with Blagojevich, Rezko and Kelly to use the governor’s office and Monk’s chief of staff office for financial gain, dividing the proceeds among them. One scheme allegedly included a 2003 pension deal that refinanced $10 billion in pension obligation bonds, issuing all $10 billion at once so a particular investment firm would benefit and donate more money to the governor’s campaign. It also allegedly included pressuring engineering firms to contribute to Blagojevich’s campaign in return for state capital projects and pressuring Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago for a contribution in exchange for a state grant, according to the plea.

The feds also say that once convicted felon Stuart Levine had been confronted by the FBI in 2004 for rigging various state boards, the focus shifted to making money through Rezko’s real estate development, involving Blagojevich’s wife, Patricia, in marketing efforts.

One count of wire fraud carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a fine of $250,000, although Monk’s plea agreement recommends a sentence between two and four years.

Blagojevich’s trial is scheduled to start June 2, 2010.