Feds drop charges against Blago's brother

Feds drop charges against Blago's brother
By Bob Secter and Jeff Coen
Copyright by The Chicago Tribune
August 26, 2010 12:00 PM
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/08/charges-dropped-against-blagos-brother.html


Federal prosecutors announced today they have dropped all charges against Robert Blagojevich, the former governor's brother.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Reid Schar said the government was dropping two counts of extortion conspiracy and one count each of wire fraud and extortion because of "the disparity in the roles" of the two brothers and "in the interests of justice."

Rod Blagojevich still faces retrial on 23 counts. He was convicted last week of a single count of lying to the FBI, but jurors were deadlocked on all four counts against Robert. Some jurors said later they thought Robert Blagojevich should have been acquitted.

Robert Blagojevich was not in court when the surprise announcement was made and learned of the decision by phone from his lawyer, Michael Ettinger.

"You're done," Ettinger said he told Robert Blagojevich. "They just did it. Done . .. You're free."

"Oh my God, oh my God," was his response, Ettinger said. Robert Blagojevich's wife, Julie, cried in the background, Ettinger said.

"I'm in shock," Ettinger said. "I'm exhausted mentally and physically. The logical consequence of this is he's going back to Tennessee. This may save his house."

Ettinger said the government never asked Robert Blagojevich to testify against his brother. Still, Ettinger acknowledged the relationship between the brothers has been "strained."

"Robert and Rod need to patch things up," he said. "The relationship is obviously strained, but Robert loves him...They will make up and have a relationship again."

Ettinger said he didn't know of the government's decision until just a couple of minutes before today's hearing. As of Wednesday, prosecutors were still saying they intended to retry Robert Blagojevich, Ettinger said.

Robert Blagojevich, a Nashville businessman, ran fundraising for the Friends of Blagojevich campaign operation for four months in 2008. He was accused of conspiring with his brother to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama.

Robert Blagojevich, 54, described himself on the witness stand as an innocent bystander, a political novice and a loyal brother who agreed to oversee the then-governor's campaign after a couple of close advisers were indicted.

The retired military officer and real-estate entrepreneur painted a sympathetic portrait as he told the jury that he agreed to help the governor because he made a promise to their dying mother that he would always stand by him.

Before going to work with the campaign, he also said he got assurances from his brother and sister-in-law, Patti, that the federal investigation into their finances was behind them.

Secretly recorded tapes caught the Blagojevich brothers discussing several candidates for Obama's vacant Senate seat following the 2008 presidential election, including U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Leaders from the Indian business community had offered to raise $1.5 million in exchange for giving Jackson the seat and Rod Blagojevich instructed his brother to reach out to them.

Robert Blagojevich told the jury that the governor wanted to do what was best for Illinois and had no intention of profiting from the decision.

The defense called only him and his wife, Julie, on his behalf, and Robert Blagojevich had expected his brother to present a defense as well. In the end, the former governor didn't testify, and his defense team didn't call any witnesses.

After jurors announced last week they were unable to reach a verdict on any of the counts against him, Robert Blagojevich told reporters he was confident he would be vindicated in a retrial.

"I have lived through the most surreal experience anyone could live through," he said. "I have felt like this has been a slow bleed from the beginning, financially, emotionally and otherwise. But I can tell you what, I feel strong, I feel confident and I don't feel in any way deterred in my ability to articulate my innocence."