CHICAGO ? A federal judge indefinitely delayed on Monday the sentencing for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on multiple corruption convictions, including attempted extortion for trying to sell or trade President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for campaign donations or a high-paying job.
A three-sentence notice posted electronically by U.S. District Judge James Zagel in Chicago says simply that Blagojevich's Oct. 6 sentencing date has been "stricken until further order by the court."
In the same filing, Zagel also denied all motions filed by Blagojevich after his retrial ended in June, including requests for his convictions to be overturned and for a third trial to be held.
Jurors at Blagojevich's retrial found the 54-year-old guilty on 17 of 20 corruption charges. At his first trial last year, a jury deadlocked on all but one count ? convicting Blagojevich of lying to the FBI.
While Monday's filing did not offer any reason for delaying sentencing, there had been speculation that the impeached governor's sentencing could be pushed back because of a scheduling conflict with a related trial.
The trial of William Cellini, a lobbyist, businessman and sometimes fundraiser for Blagojevich, is scheduled to start Oct. 3, and Zagel is also the judge in that case. That trial, which is expected to take two or three weeks, is the last of the big trials that grew out of a federal investigation into Blagojevich's governorship.
Zagel would have had to suspend Cellini's trial for a day or more while attending to Blagojevich's sentencing.
Cellini, 76, has pleaded not guilty to trying to shake down a Hollywood producer for campaign cash for Blagojevich. The Springfield Republican was known as "The Pope" of Illinois politics for his influence in the halls of state power dating back to the 1960s.
Blagojevich faces a maximum sentence of around 300 years in prison ? though federal guidelines dictate he get far less. Most legal experts say Zagel is likely to sentence Blagojevich to around ten years.
In turning down Blagojevich's motions, Zagel said only that "post-trial motions are denied." A full, written explanation will be issued later, he said.
Blagojevich's attorneys had lambasted both the government and Zagel for what they called a lack of evenhandedness. In one 158-page filing in July, they asserted that "the playing field was so unlevel that Blagojevich never stood a chance at a fair trial." The motion went on, "There was a thumb on the scale of justice."
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