CHICAGO (AP) – Rod Blagojevich, the ousted Illinois governor whose three-year battle against criminal charges became a national spectacle, was sentenced to 14 years in prison Wednesday, one of the stiffest penalties imposed for corruption in a state with a history of crooked politics.

Blagojevich’s 18 convictions included allegations of trying to leverage his power to appoint someone to President Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to raise campaign cash or land a high-paying job.

“When it is the governor who goes bad the fabric of Illinois is torn and disfigured and not easily repaired,” Judge James Zagel said.

The twice-elected Democrat is now the second former Illinois governor in a row to be sentenced to prison, and the fourth Illinois governor in the last four decades. His Republican predecessor, George Ryan, currently is serving a sentence of 6 1/2 years, also for corruption.

Blagojevich, in a last plea for mercy, tried something he never had before: an apology. After years of insisting he was innocent, he told the judge he’d made “terrible mistakes” and acknowledged that he broke the law.

“I’m here convicted of crimes … ,” Blagojevich said, “and I am accepting of it, I acknowledge it and I of course am unbelievably sorry for it.”

But Zagel gave him little leeway, telling him that he gave him credit for taking responsibility but that his apology didn’t mitigate his crimes.

“Whatever good things you did for people as governor, and you did some, I am more concerned with the occasions when you wanted to use your powers when you wanted to do things that were only good for yourself.”

Read more here. We were all sentenced to at least 4 years of “the Chicago Way” in 2008. Hopefully we can win parole in 2012.

According to CNN:

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted…on 17 of the 20 public corruption charges against him related to his attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat held by Barack Obama before he resigned to become president.

The 11 women and one man reached the verdicts on their 10th day of deliberation in the trial, which began April 20. As the verdicts were read, Blagojevich turned to look back at his wife, Patti, who dropped into her seat. None of the jurors would look at the defendant as the verdicts were being read.

Technically, Blagojevich could spend the rest of his years in prison due to the compounding charges. However, legal experts believe he’ll serve six-to-ten.

Blagojevich is a colorful character — and a TV star, owing to his appearance on Donald Trump’s program “Celebrity Apprentice.” And he certainly captured an enormous amount of public attention. But lost in all of the pomp and circumstance of his two very public trials is the potentially criminal role that high ranking officials inside the Obama administration — perhaps even the president himself — played in this corrupt scheme.

A few weeks ago, JW blogger Irene Garcia’s reported from the trial. (You can read our blog, Corruption Chronicles, here.) According to sworn testimony, White House officials were intimately involved in the back-and-forth horse-trading over Obama’s then-vacant Senate seat. (In fact, the FBI had a “sit-down” with Barack Obama to talk things over even before he was sworn in as President of the United States, which is, I believe, unprecedented.) Of course, it was Obama’s bagman, former White House Chief of Staff and current Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who allegedly acted as Obama’s key go-between:

As Irene reported:

Rod Blagojevich’s onetime chief of staff, John Harris, testified about negotiations between his former boss and President Barack Obama to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by the commander-in-chief… Shortly upon taking the stand…Harris testified that he and Blagojevich discussed the Senate appointment in October 2008 and Blagojevich asked him “What do you think I can get for this?”

Obama’s top aide, Rahm Emanuel, called Harris in 2008 to suggest the then-governor appoint Obama’s close friend Valerie Jarrett, according to Harris’s testimony…In the first trial Harris testified that Obama sent Blagojevich a list of “acceptable” Senate candidates to fill his old seat. The list included then Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. Obama eventually named Duckworth to a top position at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

You may also recall in 2009, JW obtained public recordsthat prove Obama and Blagojevich had repeated contact after Obama became president even though the White House vehemently denied it.

So again, we have the alleged crime inside the Obama administration (attempting to strike a deal over the then vacant Senate seat) and the cover-up (lying about it publicly).

In the first Blagojevich trial, prosecutors jeopardized their case against Blago in an effort to protect Obama White House officials such as Emanuel, and the jury deadlocked on the charges. This time around Emanuel did take the stand, but denied everything in his scant five-minute testimony.

But while Emanuel appears to have been spared any accountability for his role in the Blagojevich scheme, another Illinois politician might not be so lucky, as ABC News Chicago reports:

The end of one case could be the beginning of another: A congressional investigation of South Side U.S. Representative Jesse Jackson Jr.

In this Intelligence Report: Now that Rod Blagojevich’s trial is finished, the door is open for House Ethics investigators.

An investigation by the House Ethics Committee was set to begin last November, looking into whether Congressman Jackson offered to raise campaign funds for Blagojevich in exchange for Jackson’s appointment to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. But last November, with federal investigators preparing for Blagojevich’s retrial, Justice Department officials asked the House Ethics Committee to hold off until the ex-governor’s trial ended.

Irene explains the details of Jackson’s alleged involvement:

Prosecutors claim Blagojevich considered awarding the seat to Jackson because the congressman’s emissaries had promised to raise at least $1 million for the former governor’s campaign fund. In fact, Jackson is mentioned as “Senate Candidate 5” in the government’s original 76-page indictment, though he has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of a bribery scheme on his behalf.

“Appearing somewhat nervous,” Irene reports, Jackson again denied the charges when he took the stand.

Blagojevich deserves to be sitting in prison for his crimes. But it’s clear he did not act alone. Negotiations are two-sided affairs. If Blagojevich was wheeling and dealing, someone was on the other end holding the cards. Let’s hope that at least Rep. Jackson, Jr. is held to account if he played a role in yet another sad chapter in Illinois political history. And don’t believe the spin that this scandal doesn’t eventually lead to the Oval Office.

The first time around, prosecutors short-changed their own case by refusing to call key witnesses to the stand, including former Obama chief of staff (and current Chicago mayor) Rahm “Rahmbo” Emanuel and Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. Blago, for his part, never took the stand. As a result, the jury deadlocked on all but one count—lying to the FBI. This time around, however, all three have been on the stand and under oath.

The prosecution has rested its case and Blago has testified in his defense. He was described as “combative and argumentative” during cross-examination by prosecutors. Now a jury will decide the fate of former Governor Blagojevich.

Judicial Watch’s blogger Irene Garcia has been on the ground in Chicago covering the Blago re-trial. Irene’s experience includes 13 years as a reporter at the Los Angeles Times. So Judicial Watch has a great onsite resource, reporting details that the other media will gloss over during this important Chicago/Illinois/Obama corruption trial. Here are some especially exciting excerpts from her detailed reports. (Click here to read them in their entirety):

Blago on Wire Tap Tirade Against Obama: I was “Venting”

Like Isaiah in the Old Testament, Rod Blagojevich wanted to “get the rich to help the poor” when he offered to send Barack Obama’s close friend (Valerie Jarrett) to the U.S. Senate in exchange for a nonprofit set up by wealthy Democratic donors close to the president. The multi-million-dollar charity would promote healthcare for children and “working families” and, of course, Blagojevich and his pals would run it.

…Blagojevich testified that he never promised or connected any deals to the senate appointment. In fact, he testified that he was only “venting” when he blasted Obama on a secret FBI recording because he offered only to be “grateful and appreciative” in exchange for Jarrett’s appointment. “[Expletive] them,” Blagojevich is heard saying on the wire tap. That’s when he devised a plan to get Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, to help set up the healthcare nonprofit by hitting up wealthy Democratic donors like leftwing activist George Soros and investor Warren Buffett for money…

In Rambling Testimony Blago Says Bribes are Part of Politics

Trading a U.S. Senate appointment for a personal benefit is perfectly legal and politicians throughout history have committed similar acts, according to Rod Blagojevich, who took the stand for a fourth day [on June 1, 2011] in his corruption retrial. As a recent example the impeached Illinois governor offered a deal brokered between Barack Obama and his then-rival Hillary Clinton during the 2008 presidential election. Obama offered to appoint Clinton Secretary of State in exchange for pulling out of the presidential race and gave her $10 million to settle her campaign debt…

Blagojevich’s defense has two parts; he truly didn’t think he committed any wrongdoing because his actions are commonplace in politics and that he was simply following the recommendations of trusted advisers…Keeping with tradition, Blagojevich was determined to get something in return for his power as governor to appoint a senator…“I’m not giving it up for nothing,” he testified, recalling how it all went down in the fall of 2008. “I knew it was a unique opportunity.”

Blago on the Stand: “I am an f-ing jerk and I apologize”

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich offered perhaps the most accurate description of himself just minutes after taking the stand for the first time: “I am an f-ing jerk and I apologize.” The disgraced politician rambled about his youth, Little League baseball, the struggles of his Serbian immigrant family and his childhood job as a shoe shiner. He also mentioned that history inspires him and choked up about the death of his parents, who incidentally he claims have helped him from heaven.

It was an apparent effort to win jurors over, though none showed any signs of compassion and one reporter inside the courtroom observed a juror “extremely annoyed” by all the personal history… “I would prefer to be somewhere else,” Blagojevich told jurors, adding that he was in court to tell the truth after a 2 ½-year wait. Now he feels “very liberated.”

Rep. Jackson, Jr. Denies Bribe Offer

[Jackson, Jr.], the son of the famed “civil rights” con artist with the same name denied ordering a major political fundraiser to offer $1.5 million in exchange for a U.S. Senate appointment that became available when Barack Obama got elected president. Appearing somewhat nervous, Jackson testified that he has never directed anyone to raise money for another politician other than himself and he did not offer any fund-raising in exchange for the appointment…

…Jackson aggressively pushed for the appointment when it became open in 2008 and even launched a media campaign he hoped would build public support. Prosecutors claim Blagojevich considered awarding the seat to Jackson because the congressman’s emissaries had promised to raise at least $1 million for the former governor’s campaign fund. In fact, Jackson is mentioned as “Senate Candidate 5” in the government’s original 76-page indictment, though he has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of a bribery scheme on his behalf.

Rahm Emanuel’s Gripping 5-Minute Testimony

Emanuel’s testimony was even shorter [than Jackson, Jr.’s], though his appearance alone created commotion and required heightened security around the courthouse grounds. Earlier in the trial Blagojevich’s top aide testified that, as Obama’s chief of staff, Emanuel called to suggest appointing the president’s close friend Valerie Jarrett, who ended up taking a White House job.

In court…Emanuel testified in less than five minutes that he was never asked for anything in exchange for appointing Jarrett to Obama’s vacant senate seat. Prosecutors assert that Blagojevich tried to negotiate a cabinet position or a lucrative “nonprofit” that he could run after leaving office for appointing [Valerie] Jarrett.

Blago Wiretap: “I Want to Make Money”

Blagojevich’s onetime chief of staff (John Harris) delivered damaging testimony about the inner workings of his boss’s administration, painting the portrait of a crooked politician who abused his power to advance his career…Some of the [FBI’s wiretap] recordings were played for the jury…In the tapes Blagojevich uses profanity with regularity and he flat-out says he wants to leave Illinois. In fact, in one segment he reveals being “depressed” on the eve of his reelection as Illinois governor because that meant he’d be stuck there four more years.

In another segment Blagojevich discusses appointing his wife Patti, a struggling real estate agent, to a state board that pays six figures or a lucrative job with a company that does business with the state. The bottom line is that Blagojevich was strapped for cash and he was determined to use his position to get some. “I want to make money,” he’s heard telling Harris on the tapes. Blagojevich also made clear that he wouldn’t accept a federal job from Obama if it only paid a measly $190,000 a year because he already made $170,000 as governor.

Blago Former Chief of Staff: Emanuel Pitched Jarrett

Rod Blagojevich’s onetime chief of staff, John Harris, testified about negotiations between his former boss and President Barack Obama to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by the commander-in-chief… Shortly upon taking the stand…Harris testified that he and Blagojevich discussed the Senate appointment in October 2008 and Blagojevich asked him “What do you think I can get for this?”

Obama’s top aide, Rahm Emanuel, called Harris in 2008 to suggest the then-governor appoint Obama’s close friend Valerie Jarrett, according to Harris’s testimony…In the first trial Harris testified that Obama sent Blagojevich a list of “acceptable” Senate candidates to fill his old seat. The list included then Illinois Department of Veterans’ Affairs Director Tammy Duckworth, Illinois State Comptroller Dan Hynes, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. and Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. Obama eventually named Duckworth to a top position at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

As many of you well know, JW has long investigated widespread corruption in the Blagojevich administration. In 2006, Blagojevich refused a JW public records request for subpoenas relating to the federal probe of his office and, in 2007, JW filed an open records lawsuit in Cook County Court to obtain them. In 2009, JW obtained public records that prove Obama and Blagojevich had repeated contact after Obama became president even though the White House has vehemently denied it.

Obama won’t talk about it and Emanuel won’t admit it (even under oath, or perhaps especially not under oath), but it is clear that Obama and his top people were wheeling and dealing with the corrupt and disgraced Blagojevich over this Senate appointment. It will be interesting to see how this all comes out this time around when the jury reaches a verdict.

And as I said, you can track Irene’s Blagojevich trial reports on our blog, Corruption Chronicles.

Of course, if you’ve been following the news, you know billionaire businessman and star of the show Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump, has been banging the drums the loudest on some of these issues. The press has focused heavily on his criticism of Obama on the subject of his birth certificate, an issue first raised by supporters of Hillary Clinton that continues to dog the president. But there were other comments by Trump last week that caught my attention, specifically Obama’s ties to Antoin “Tony” Rezko and William Ayers.

As Newsmax reported, Trump suggested the unrepentant terrorist Bill Ayers wrote Obama’s book “Dreams of My Father.” (Though the terrorist may have been joking, Ayers actually said the same thing in a speech at Montclair State University last month.) Judicial Watch has highlighted Obama’s ties to radicals such as Ayers, race-baiter “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright and convicted felon Rezko. But the Big Media (and too many Republicans) seems uninterested that Obama was a close ally and funder of an unrepentant terrorist or entered into a shady real estate deal with Rezko, who everyone knew at the time to be under criminal investigation. So it is good that Trump highlighted the corruption issue that is so important to Judicial Watch and the hundreds of thousands of Americans who support our cause: “So you got Reverend Wright, you got Bill Ayers, you got Tony Rezko. He drops these guys, and the press leaves him alone,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s Sean Hannity.

While Trump may be just now coming to some new revelations regarding Obama’s suspect ties, Judicial Watch has been investigating them for years. In fact, we put boots on the ground in Chicago to get to the truth in the matter. Now that these characters are back in the news, I think it’s a good idea to review some of what we’ve already uncovered:

• Judicial Watch obtained documents regarding the Annenberg Challenge, a school program designed by Ayers, who is a known domestic terrorist. Ayers, who is now a retired university professor, was once a member of the Communist domestic terrorist group Weather Underground that planted bombs in government buildings such as the Pentagon. Ayers has publicly stated that he doesn’t regret setting the bombs and that his violent group actually “didn’t do enough.” Obama served as Chairman of the organization for eight years (1995-2002). The documents include a fundraising letter signed by Obama requesting a $22,500 grant noting, “we [the Annenberg Challenge] are launched.”
• Judicial Watch uncovered documents that further establish Obama’s connection to convicted felon Antoin “Tony” Rezko. The documents show Barack Obama supported a housing development project known as Cottage View Terrace, which yielded $900,000 in developers’ fees for Rezko and Obama’s employer, lawyer Allison Davis. (The project application states, “State Senator Barack Obama has provided support.”) Rezko, who was involved in Obama’s questionable “super jumbo home loan,” was ultimately convicted on 16 counts of fraud and money laundering. He has personally donated at least $21,000 to Obama’s campaigns, and raised over two hundred thousand dollars in additional support.
• Judicial Watch obtained documents that raise questions about Michelle Obama and the Rezko-Cottage View land deal as well. One document that lists the number of community institutions involved with the Cottage View Terrace project includes the University of Chicago. In 1998, Michelle Obama was working for the University of Chicago as Associate Dean of Student Services. She was also in charge of developing the University’s Community Service Center. The university wrote three letters in which it “enthusiastically supports” the project. The university supported other Rezko projects as well.
• Other documents we found show that Obama “Special Advisor” czar Valerie Jarrett, whom CBS News once called “the other side of Barack Obama’s brain,” is also connected to Rezko. She served on the Board of Directors for the Fund for Community Redevelopment and Revitalization, an organization that worked with Rezko and Allison Davis, and also voiced her support for other Rezko projects.

And then, of course, when it comes to Obama’s crooked friends, we can’t forget about former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, who is also back in the news now that his second corruption trial is underway. (Blago was arrested and hauled off in handcuffs for attempting to “sell” the U.S. Senate seat left vacant by Barack Obama when he ascended to the White House.)

JW has aggressively investigated the Blagojevich scandal. Our own Corruption Chronicles blogger Irene Garcia was on the ground in Illinois for the Blago trial. You can read some of her excellent reporting here. But let me bottom line this for you: According to sworn testimony during the “Blago” trial, former Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel (a.k.a. “Rhambo”) served as Obama’s chief negotiator with the Blagojevich team as the then Illinois Governor attempted to illegally sell Obama’s former Senate seat to the highest bidder.

Of course this squares with documents we obtained from Blago’s office related to the then Illinois governor’s contacts with then-President-elect Obama and his transition team. The documents include a December 3, 2008, letter from Barack Obama following a December 2, 2008, meeting with Blagojevich as well as a November 17, 2008, letter signed by Presidential Transition Team co-chairs Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta providing Blagojevich with a list of transition team contacts. “I want to make it a priority of my Administration to work closely with you,” Obama wrote to Blagojevich.

Unfortunately the federal prosecutor cut short the case against Blagojevich and Emanuel and other Obama insiders were never called to testify. Will they get it right this time?

Remember that then-President-elect Obama was interviewed by the FBI in December, 2008, about his Blago dealings. (Usually, corrupt presidents get interviewed by the FBI after they’re in office!)

The point of this review is this: Obama’s suspicious connections were important in 2008. And they’re just as important now, especially since the press has let Obama completely off the hook over these concerns. It’ll be interesting to see what happens this time around, now that Trump is using his various public vehicles to raise these issues once again. (Judicial Watch does not endorse candidates for public office.)

The fact that Trump is doing so well in the polls should be a signal to both Democrats and Republicans that corruption matters.

Jurors who have been interviewed so far will not identify the juror, other than to say the juror was a female.

FOX Chicago News reported that speculation is centering on juror Jo Ann Chiakulas of Willowbrook, after a second-hand acquaintance said that she has been saying for weeks that she would find Blagojevich not guilty.

Chiakulas is a retired director from the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Contacted Tuesday night, she told FOX Chicago News she would call on Wednesday if she wished to talk about the case.

On one count at least, Chiakulas voted with her fellow jurors, agreeing to convict Blagojevich of lying to federal agents.

This was since confirmed by CBS local news Chicago.

They actually could have reported more — because pre-trial, they had this to say about a female “retired public health director” on the jury panel:

Juror # 106, a black female believed to be in her 60s, is a retired state public health director who has ties to the Chicago Urban League. She has handed out campaign literature for a relative who ran for public office. She listens to National Public Radio and liberal talk radio shows.

Media accounts mention the campaign literature, but they don’t mention NPR and liberal talk radio. Why?

We know they read this description — why do they end their repetition of it at that point?

The media is quick to stereotype conservative-tilting Americans and attribute to them bad motives.

Think they’ll do the same here?

What were her motives for so egregiously ignoring the law to set a guilty man free that her fellow jurors had to confront her with her own oath to render a true verdict?

I am pretty accustomed by now to having my motivations questioned by the media, and having unethical or vile motives assigned to me.

How about this Chicago politics fan?

You know, to date, the Tea Party has done zero damage to anyone, and yet it is castigated daily by our hectoring press.

This woman just sprung a guilty man free and cost the taxpayers millions. And she bragged for weeks before deliberations she was set on doing just that.

Where did she get her ideas from?

I know FoxNews gets blamed a lot for all the “poison” it’s putting into the body politic — what poison did she ingest from NPR and liberal talk radio?

From where did she get the idea that it was right to spring a guilty man in the interest of some political gamesmanship?

Think it’s just an oversight that they left this out there for a blogger to find?

I know this is already known to reporters from my source.

More at Ace of Spades HQ.

Now, as the truth has begun to emerge, it is becoming clear that ShoreBank’s troubles did not begin in poor communities at all.

Robin Sidel of the Wall Street Journal reports that ShoreBank’s financial problems may partly stem from loans made to condominium developers and builders in parts of town beyond its traditional focus on the city’s South Side.

If ShoreBank deserves help because it is the “iconic community development bank,” as Schakowsky recently claimed, what was it doing lending money to condo kings, and why should taxpayers bail it out?

If the ShoreBank is taken over, Schakowsky claims, “the losers will be these low-income communities and the businesses and the homeowners that they serve.”

That was never true.

The businesses and homeowners will be protected, as they are in every federal takeover. Rather, those with the most to lose from ShoreBank’s failure will be its board, its political patrons, and the developers who hoped to profit from its “iconic” status.

This is not the first time that property developers have played a key role in a Chicago political scandal.

Property developer Tony Rezko, a fundraiser for both Barack Obama and former governor Rod Blagojevich, is currently in federal prison on corruption-related charges. During his career, he was involved in many condominium projects in the city, including one that Obama helped him build by urging state funding for the project.

The plot thickens. At the ongoing Blagojevich trial, Ali Ata, the former head of the Illinois Finance Authority (IFA), testified last month that Rezko arranged for him to be appointed to the IFA by helping him pay off the governor.

The current chair of the IFA, Bill Brandt, has been one of the most vociferous proponents of a ShoreBank bailout, and may even have suggested a state-level bailout to ShoreBank, rather than the other way around.

There is another Rezko connection to ShoreBank: Howard Stanback, who serves on one of ShoreBank’s boards, once worked for Rezko at New Kenwood LLC–the same development company that Obama had assisted.

(Rezko’s partner at New Kenwood was Obama’s former boss, Allison S. Davis; Stanback also chaired the Woods Fund, where Obama served along with Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground.)

Until now, the role played by property developers in ShoreBank’s demise has been hidden from all but a few insiders and key officials at the Federal Reserve.

A few days ago, Tim Geithner responded to a request by Schakowsky and other Chicago Democrats by giving ShoreBank an 11-week extension. Before, it needed to raise enough capital to avoid closure by May 21; now, it has until August 6. (How many homeowners get that kind of break?)

Republicans in Congress have pushed for an investigation into the White House’s role in trying to secure a bailout for ShoreBank. Yet we also need a public forensic audit of the bank.

Is there a Rezko connection? Are there developers with ties to the Chicago machine who would be protected by a bailout? What are the connections, if any, to Obama, Schakowsky, and other Chicago politicians?

We need to know–now. At the very least, we can already dismiss Schakowsky’s false excuse that the bailout is for the poor. It is nothing more than Chicago-style corruption on a national scale.

Even if the man, Joseph Aramanda, has not been convicted (yet) of  a crime, his reputation for being involved in illegal activities seriously undermines the credibility of Census Bureau operations in Chicago. In a city with corruptionlinked to 2010 Census advertising, the public should not have to worry that upper management positions are being filled by individuals who are directly tied to government corruption and fraud.

Furthermore, Joseph Aramanda’s experiences as a pizza franchise owner (his job prior to the Census Bureau gig) don’t qualify him to be in charge of 1,000+ employees.

This is particularly troubling at a time when there are  many hardworking, educated individuals with office management experience in the Chicago area who can do the job just as efficiently. MyTwoCensus.com will be pressing the Census Bureau to fire this man immediately, as his association with the Census Bureau tarnishes the reputation of the 2010 Census. That the suits in Washington could let a man so deeply embroiled in scandal run the office of one of America’s largest LCO’s is extremely troubling and indicative of larger problems.

(And while Mr. Aramanda is spending days testifying at the Blago trial, is he still getting paid by the government?)