Bio
Rod Blagojevich is a former American 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.
Blagojevich was arrested on federal corruption charges including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery December 9, 2008.
As a result, on January 9, 2009, the Illinois House of Representatives voted to impeach Blagojevich by a 114–1 vote for corruption and misconduct in office, 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, 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 asked the Illinois Supreme Court to suspend the former attorney's law license, in a likely prelude to the further disgrace of disbarment.
He appeared as a contestant on the third season of The Celebrity Apprentice, in 2010.