海角大神

Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich鈥檚 campaign to clear his name of corruption charges suffered a major blow Wednesday when John Harris, his former chief of staff, entered a plea agreement with the US Attorney鈥檚 Office in Chicago. [Editor's note: The original version misstated the date of the plea agreement.]

Mr. Harris pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and he pledged cooporation with prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence if convicted.

Mr. Blagojevich is charged with 16 counts of corruption including racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, and making false statements to federal agents. He has insisted he is innocent of all charges.

Harris served as Blagojevich鈥檚 chief of staff from late 2005 until last December. He and the governor are among six people charged in April with 19 counts of 鈥減ervasive fraud.鈥�

The plea agreement is the first in this case, although political insiders say that between now and the trial鈥檚 opening day in June 2010 there probably will be more.

鈥淸Blagojevich] will soon be the last man standing,鈥� says Andy Shaw, executive director of the Better Government Association, a watchdog group in Chicago. Mr. Shaw, who was a long-time political reporter for WLS-TV, says 鈥渢his case is over鈥� due to a growing number of cooperating witnesses who were close to Blagojevich when he was governor.

Last month, Christopher Kelly, Blagojevich鈥檚 former adviser and chief fundraiser, was sentenced to 37 months in prison on federal tax fraud charges for concealing the use of corporate funds from a roofing company he owned to cover gambling debts. Mr. Kelly is also involved in a second case in which he is charged in a kickback scheme against United Airlines and American Airlines at O'Hare International Airport. The trial for that case starts in September.

Those cases were not connected to the Blagojevich indictments because they did not involve the misuse of public funds.

Prosecutors also have access to the possible cooperation of Antoin 鈥�Tony鈥� Rezko, a top Blagojevich adviser and fundraiser who was convicted in June 2008 on 16 federal corruption charges for trading his clout.

Shaw says prosecutors 鈥渘ow have a litany of cooperating witnesses, people who were right there in the room as Senate seats were being bartered and contracts traded for contributions, and jobs and positions on boards were sold off for cash."

"They鈥檙e all going to stand up, one by one, and paint a picture of the worst pay-to-play corruption this state has ever seen,鈥� says Shaw.

Under the plea deal, Harris faces a maximum of 35 months in prison, providing the testimony he offers proves accurate. Without the plea arrangement, the maximum for the charge is 20 years. Randall Samborn, spokesman with the US Attorney鈥檚 Office, says as of Wednesday Harris 鈥渋s the only one to plead guilty at this point.鈥�

The plea agreement states that in 2008 Harris aided Blagojevich鈥檚 attempts to sell the US Senate seat vacated by President Obama. Harris also was alleged to have threatened the Chicago Tribune with the withholding of state funds if the newspaper did not fire editorial staffers critical of the governor. He also was charged with pressuring financial institutions that did business with the state to give his wife a job.

Messages left for Harris鈥檚 attorney and Blagojevich鈥檚 spokesperson were not returned at time of writing.
-----
Follow us on .