Former Gov. Rod Blagojevich Wants To Cancel Retrial; Asks To Be Sentenced ASAP
March 9 2011, Published 7:14 a.m. ET
Disgraced former Illinois governor (and yes, Celebrity Apprentice contestant) Rod Blagojevich asked a judge on Wednesday to cancel his retrial and instead sentence him as soon as possible on the one conviction from his first trial, Breaking Celebrity News has learned.
In explaining his decision, Blagojevich -- who was impeached from office after being charged with corruption -- said that money troubles prevent him from mounting a proper defense in a second trial.
In a five-page motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, Blagojevich does not admit guilt, including on the conviction of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (That is the lone count jurors agreed on at his otherwise deadlocked trial last year.)
The motion says the former governor, whose legal bills are supposed to be paid by the government, wants to forgo a retrial on grounds that none of his lawyers have been paid for months of pretrial preparations.
"Should this motion be granted... funds for the second trial would no longer be necessary," the motion reads. An added bonus, it continues, would be "no further cost to taxpayers."
Mr. Blagojevich, 54, faces a maximum five-year prison term for the lying count. It was widely expected that a sentencing date for that conviction would