Rod Blagojevich

Rod Blagojevich i/bləˈɡɔɪ.əvɪtʃ/ (born December 10, 1956) is an American former politician who served as the 40th Governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was elected governor in 2002, the first Democrat to win the office since Daniel Walker's victory 30 years earlier.

Blagojevich, who was often referred to by the nickname "Blago" in print and other media, struggled to pass legislation and budgets during his tenure as Governor. and had historically low approval ratings within Illinois; at one time the Rasmussen Reports ranked him "America's Least Popular Governor" even before the news of his corruption investigation broke.

On December 9, 2008, Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery for his attempt to sell the senate seat recently vacated by Barack Obama. As a result, on January 9, 2009, the Illinois House of Representatives voted by a 114–1 vote to impeach Blagojevich for corruption and misconduct in office. This was the first time such an action has been taken against a governor of Illinois, making him the second state official in Illinois history to be impeached. The Illinois State Senate unanimously found him guilty of the charges of impeachment, and he was removed from office on January 29, 2009. In a separate and also unanimous vote, Blagojevich was banned for life from holding public office in the State of Illinois. On August 17, 2010, Blagojevich was found guilty of lying to the FBI; on June 27, 2011, Blagojevich was found guilty on 17 of 20 counts presented during his retrial. On Thursday, September 29, 2011, it was announced that in mid-August, administrators for the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission had asked the Illinois Supreme Court to suspend the former attorney's law license, in a likely prelude to disbarment (which is usually automatic upon a felony conviction). On December 7, 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison by U.S. District Court Judge James Block Zagel; he must serve at least 85 percent, or more than 11 1/2 years, before he can be released on the federal version of parole, supervised release. He began his sentence as prisoner number 40892-424 at the minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution, Englewood (located near the Denver suburb of Littleton, Colorado in unincorporated Jefferson County) on Thursday, March 15, 2012, after saying a final goodbye to his supporters at his Chicago residence the day before. He is the latest of several Illinois governors and other prominent state politicians to be incarcerated. Currently, his predecessor as governor, Republican George Ryan, is also serving a prison sentence of 6 1/2 years as a result of the (commercial) "licenses-for-bribes" scandal at the Federal Correctional Institution, Terre Haute, Indiana.