Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a Statehouse roundup
Next Post: Explore new opportunities - Join Walmart.com’s affiliate network
Posted in:
*** UPDATE *** So much for that excuse…
Federal officials said later Wednesday that the checks are in the mail.
The clerk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois told The Associated Press that vouchers from Blagojevich’s attorneys for their work were submitted in mid-February, and Michael Dobbins said the checks were cut Wednesday and were going out in the mail.
He said payments to federal defenders have been complicated by budget disputes on Capitol Hill.
Back to work, gentlemen.
* Consider it highly doubtful that Rod Blagojevich gets what he wants…
Rod Blagojevich wants to cancel his upcoming retrial, asking to be sentenced immediately, however, prosecutors and the judge would have to approve of the request.
That’s a tall order, considering 20 counts remain pending against the former governor, including that he tried selling President Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich narrowly missed conviction on those counts, some of the most significant in the case, in the first trial with jurors voting 11-1 on many of the charges.
Blagojevich’s lawyers filed a five-page motion Wednesday morning asking to proceed to sentencing right away and avoid a retrial that’s set to begin April 20.
“A second prosecution of this case is an irresponsible use of taxpayer funds in light of the current economic crisis and Blagojevich’s imminent sentencing on the conviction from the first trial,” lawyers wrote in the motion. […]
“There’s charges pending, the only way they get out of those charges is if the government drops them,” says Michael Ettinger, a federal defense lawyer who represented Blagojevich’s brother, Robert. Charges against Rob Blagojevich were dropped after the last trial. [Emphasis added.]
He’d be looking at a maximum of five years if he was sentenced on that one charge.
* From Blagojevich’s filing…
At the first trial, defense counsel were funded by the Friends of Blagojevich campaign fund – not by taxpayers. The campaign fund was exhausted toward the end of trial and counsel for Blagojevich received only partial compensation (one-fifth of payment) for the last month of trial, July 2010. […]
To date, defense counsel have been working on the Blagojevich case for almost nine months without pay. This has caused a significant hardship and has deprived Blagojevich of his right to effective assistance of counsel as required by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.
The financial hardship this has caused defense counsel has created a vast inequity in this case between the government and the defense. […]
As such, preparation for retrial is not complete and will not be complete by April 20, 2011.
* Several legal analysts were quoted this morning. Let’s start with Fox Chicago…
FOX Chicago News Legal Analyst Larry Yellen said he didn’t expect the judge to grant the motion. Judge James Zagel throughout the case has kept the trial mostly on schedule and has denied previous, similar motions. Yellen said it may be a publicity ploy, or the lawyers could simply be trying to get paid.
Legal analyst Karen Conti also said she didn’t expect the motion to go anywhere, but it did seem to be an appeal to the public.
* WGN…
“This is about money, except the government is supposed to be footing the bill for this trial. There’s a couple possibilities here. It could be a legitimate request. From Blagojevich’s attorneys’ view, ‘we do not look good in a retrial and if you are convicted you face many many years in prison.’” [said WGN-TV political analyst Paul Lisnek.]
Lisnek noted that the government generally wins in the retrial of similar cases and said Blagojevich may fare better facing sentencing on the earlier conviction.
WGN-TV legal analyst Terry Sullivan agreed that Blagojevich’s money problems could be behind the lastest request.
“He hasn’t been able to rent office space, hasn’t been able to hire investigators–all the things that were pretty much stripped from him for the preparation for a second trial because of the fact that he’s now working off public funds,” he said.
* Meanwhile, a guy who cooperated with the feds for years on the Tony Rezko matter just pled guilty to two criminal counts that had expired under the statute of limitations…
A onetime Tony Rezko business partner, who once was a Chicago cop and chief executive of a company that won a $50 million security contract in Iraq, has pleaded guilty to federal charges in Chicago after he cooperated with authorities. […]
[Daniel T. Frawley] admitted to obtaining a fraudulent $4.5 million loan from First Bank in Missouri and making false representations to the bank in 1999 and 2000.
Frawley also admits to structuring a series of withdrawals from another bank, taking out a total of $87,000 at less than $10,000 each time. He said he did it to avoid disclosure requirements, which kick in at $10,000.
The conduct charged is beyond the statute of limitations and his plea deal indicates Frawley agreed to waive the statute as part of a deal. Frawley could have faced more than five years but prosecutors will recommend 18 months, according to his deal. Frawley’s lawyers can ask for less time as part of the agreement.
That’s some pretty serious stuff to waive a statute and agree to plead guilty. But the feds are just relentless, which is why nobody figures they’ll let Blagojevich have his way and be sentenced immediately.
* The state also just wrapped up a case against one of Chris Kelly’s pals…
A major contractor for the city of Chicago was spared extra time behind bars Tuesday when he was sentenced to two years of probation for failing to give minority subcontractors their share of business on two projects.
Robert Blum, 58, pleaded guilty to two counts of fraud Tuesday.
In the plea agreement, Cook County Judge Kevin Sheehan ordered Blum to pay a 20,000 fine. Blum’s Castle Construction Corp. also must pay a $20,000 fine.
Blum is scheduled to surrender to federal officials March 23 to begin serving a two-year sentence for his August conviction for filing false income tax returns. Blum was also ordered to pay $2.1 million in restitution after he admitted that he spent $1.3 million in company money on his palatial home in New Lenox, according to the IRS.
* More…
Federal records show Blum had sought a break on his tax-evasion sentence by asking U.S. District Judge James Zagel to consider his cooperation with federal authorities investigating Kelly.
But federal prosecutors objected, saying in a filing in December that “the government had concerns regarding (Blum’s) truthfulness and his value as a potential witness” and “had concluded not to call him as a witness in any trial against Mr. Kelly.”
According to state investigators, Castle was awarded a $9.8 million contract in 2006 to build several bus- and train-washing facilities for the Chicago Transit Authority. Blum told the agency he had subcontracted $2.96 million of work to minority-owned Mid-City, but the subcontract with that firm was actually only $550,000.
In 2007, Castle won a $9 million contract with the Chicago Public Building Commission to build a new fire station in the Edgewater neighborhood, investigators said. Blum told the commission that a minority-owned business would perform about one-fourth of the work, but Castle instead hired a non-minority firm.
* Related…
* Blagojevich and the Complexity of Jury Instructions: Jury instructions have clearly become so burdensome and so complex that juries like the Blagojevich jury can hardly be expected to weed through them and appreciate their detail. With lives literally at stake, what options do federal judges have to “dumb down” what in many districts are mandatory jury instructions? And how much can one really do to reduce “legalese” in jury instructions that must be precise and hew to the language of the statute and of previously used instructions if they are to stand up on appeal?
* Burr Ridge Mansion of Former Blago Fundraiser Sold at Foreclosure - The mansion owned by Christopher Kelly went for $1.6 million at foreclosure sale.
* Fired IDOT workers settle lawsuit - Sixteen employees were found to have been let go for political reasons
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:15 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: SUBSCRIBERS ONLY - Supplement to today’s edition and a Statehouse roundup
Next Post: Explore new opportunities - Join Walmart.com’s affiliate network
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
How about he just pleads guilty to everything and gets sentenced all at once?
Comment by Excessively Rabid Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:23 am
Granted, I have no sympathy for Blago and believe this is a smokescreen, but what’s the deal with non-payment of his attorneys? Are they supposed to get paid throughout the process or simply at the end of the trial?
Comment by tubbfan Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:26 am
No harm in asking. I’m rather sympathetic to the request, not out of any affection for Blago.
In political cases, the Justice Department cherry picks its targets then brings unlimited resources to bear not only on the prime target, but on small fry they wish to flip for their trophy trial.
They don’t always fight fair, either, as in the case of Sen. Stevens of Alaska. One of the most powerful men in the country, a Republican, he was railroaded by the Bush Justice Department, only to have the convictions vacated due to gross prosecutorial misconduct.
The feds had a slam-dunk with Blago and blew it by presenting an overreaching and incoherent case. Lesson learned, Blago’s gone, move on.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:34 am
Maybe if he pleads guilty to a few more counts and provides a full and detailed accounting of his actions, it ought to be considered. It would save everybody time and money. By no means should he get off with just the one conviction. He deserves more than a slap on the wrist for his crimes.
Comment by Aldyth Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:37 am
A guy at coffee said “when he goes to jail, can you imagine being his cellmate?. There would be a de facto death penalty for one of them sooner or later inside that cell.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:41 am
Why not just sentence Blag on the one charge, have him server his jail time and be done with it. Is there any public benefit to another trial, which may or may not convict him of additional charges? Does a sentence of 2 yrs or 5 yrs or 20yrs make Illinois any safer. Blago has been exposed for what he is. His life as a politician is over, and his ability to earn a living as something other than a reality show oddity is his new reality. What more can we as the public get out of a new trial. Accept the motion, sentence him and we all move on to other things. Blago doesnt deserve any more attention or expense.
Comment by WRMNpolitics Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 9:48 am
A properly convicted and sentenced RB is more likely to fade away once the sentence is served than a RB who “gets away with it”. This person in relentless in his puruit of publicity and would be insufferable if allowed to slip away on any of the remaining counts. I would agree to cancelling the trial if he pleads guilty to one of the remaining MAIN counts, accepts his sentence by agreeing not to appeal same and GOES AWAY!
Comment by dupage dan Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 10:22 am
Why not sentence Blago to life w/o parole for that one count?
Okay, I know, not feasible, but a girl can dream, right?
Comment by Cheryl44 Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 10:25 am
6 year olds have a countdown to days until a holiday or their next birthday, I’d like a countdown to blago entering prison so we don’t have to think about him or discuss him for a very long time.
Comment by shore Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 10:27 am
Just put him away for a minimum of five years…
his 15 minutes were over a long time ago…
Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 10:28 am
How much in fees are the lawyers currently generating - the chares haven’t changed, and aren’t the remaining lawyers were on the original defense team?
Comment by titan Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 11:23 am
It’s nice to see that Rod’s ability to combat reality with fantasy has not changed much over the years.
Comment by Bubs Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 1:19 pm
Bubs, I don’t know if “nice” is the right word, but, yeah, I agree.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 1:27 pm
If you consider how much money Friends of Blago came from contractors and businesses that had taxpayer-funded state business, you could make a case that the taxpayers funded his first trial.
Comment by Paid for by taxpayers Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 2:06 pm
‘K. Send initial invoice out mid-Feb, then rush to court claiming you haven’t been paid in 9 months so multiple felony counts should be dismissed. Have Judge allow for 2 attorneys last summer, then have four attorneys listed on the brief. Assist in preparation of the case since December, 2008, now claim you don’t have time for a retrial of the same case. ‘K.
GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!
Comment by Park Wednesday, Mar 9, 11 @ 6:07 pm