Projo Politics Blog

From Chicago today comes a reminder that Rhode Island isn't the only place where top politicians have faced corruption charges:

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (pronounced bluh-GOY'-uh-vich) was arrested Tuesday on charges that he brazenly conspired to sell or trade the Senate seat left vacant by president-elect Barack Obama.

At a news conference on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said the corruption charges against the governor represent "a truly new low."

An FBI affidavit says the 51-year-old Democrat, who has the authority to appoint Obama's replacement, was intercepted on wiretaps conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat for personal benefits for himself and his wife.

Fitzgerald described the situation by saying: "We were in the middle of a corruption crime spree and we wanted to stop it."

The governor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

Read the affidavit outlining the charges against Blagojevich.

MSNBC.com's report also includes a list of three former Illinois governors who have gone to prison in the last 35 years.

In Rhode Island, the list includes:

Former Gov. Edward Diprete, who was the first Rhode Island governor to go to prison for crimes in office. In 1998, well after his third term ended, he pleaded guilty to steering state contracts to political donors. He served almost a year at the ACI.

Former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr., who was found guilty in September 2002 of a single charge of racketeering conspiracy, after an FBI probe into corruption at City Hall, known as Operation Plunder Dome. Cianci has since finished a federal prison term and returned to Providence.

Former House Majority Leader Gerard M. Martineau pleaded guilty to corruption charges in November 2007 and was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Martineau was cooperating with the federal investigation into corruption at the State House, called Operation Dollar Bill.

Former state Sen. John A. Celona, once one of the most powerful lawmakers at the Rhode Island State House, who admitted in 2005 to selling his office for political gain. He was sentenced in January 2007 to 30 months in prison.

-- With reports from Journal archives and the Associated Press

 Tags  chicago governors political corruption

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