Timeline of events in former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's corruption case
2008
n Dec. 9: Blagojevich arrested by FBI.
n Dec. 15: Illinois House creates committee to consider impeachment.
n Dec. 19: Blagojevich makes first comment on arrest, vowing to fight charges.
n Dec. 30: Blagojevich appoints Roland Burris to U.S. Senate, leading to intense scrutiny of the circumstances surrounding his appointment.
2009
n Jan. 9: House votes, 114-1, to impeach Blagojevich, a first in Illinois history.
n Jan. 23: Blagojevich blasts upcoming Senate trial as unfair, says he won’t participate. Defense attorney quits criminal case, suggesting Blagojevich won’t listen to him.
n Jan. 26: Illinois Senate opens impeachment trial; Blagojevich goes on a media blitz in New York to proclaim innocence.
n Jan. 29: Senate votes unanimously to remove Blagojevich from office and bar him from holding office in the future.
n March 25: Blagojevich hosts a radio talk show, which turns into a weekly show of his own on Chicago’s WLS.
n April 2: Blagojevich formally indicted on 19 counts, with five co-defendants.
n June 19: An Illinois prosecutor says there is not enough evidence to charge Burris with perjury for statements he made before an Illinois House impeachment in January.
n July 8: John Harris, a former chief of staff to Blagojevich, pleads guilty to taking part in a scheme to sell or trade President Obama’s Senate seat, agrees to testify at the ex-governor’s corruption trial.
n July 10: Burris announces he will not run for a full term in 2010.
n Sept. 8: Blagojevich’s book “The Governor” hits bookstores.
n Sept. 12: Blagojevich friend and fundraiser Christopher Kelly commits suicide. Kelly faced at least eight years in prison after pleading guilty to fraud charges in two separate cases.
n Oct. 9: Word leaks that Blagojevich will appear on the next edition of “Celebrity Apprentice” with Donald Trump.
n Oct. 20: Friend and former chief of staff Alonzo Monk agrees to testify against Blagojevich.
n Oct. 30: Illinois legislators approve ethics bill that includes cap on campaign donations.
n Nov. 20: Ethics committee scolds Sen. Roland Burris for misleading statements about how he came to be appointed by Blagojevich.
2010
n Feb. 2: Federal prosecutors issue new indictment against Blagojevich, adding five charges.
n May 17: Attorneys for Blagojevich say they’re heading to the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to delay his corruption trial.
n May 28: Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens refuses to delay the June 3 start of the criminal trial of Blagojevich and his brother, Robert.
n June 3: The Blagojevich criminal trial begins.
n June 8: Judge James B. Zagel seats the jury.
n July 13: Prosecutors rest their case weeks earlier than expected.
n July 19: Robert Blagojevich testifies that he never tied political contributions to government business while he served as chairman of his brother’s campaign fund.
n July 21: Rod Blago-jevich’s attorneys say the ousted Illinois governor will not testify at his corruption trial. The defense rests its case without calling a single witness.
n July 26: Prosecutors deliver closing arguments. Blagojevich lawyer clashes with the judge over what he can say in his closing arguments, pledging that he was ready to go to jail for contempt if the judge did not change his mind.
n July 27: Blagojevich attorney Sam Adam Jr. delivers closing arguments.
n July 28: Jury begins deliberations.
n Aug. 17: Jury convicts Blagojevich of lying to the FBI; can’t agree on 23 other counts. Prosecutors vow to retry the case.
