Rod Blagojevich's Conviction

Abstract

The paper briefly discusses the history of and facts related to the former Governor of Illinois, Rod R. Blagojevich's corruption and other crimes which he committed during his tenure in the office. The paper also discusses the ethical implications of the Blagojevich's case in light of four approaches of the unified ethics i.e. deontology, intuitionism, virtue theory or virtue ethics and teleology.

Table of Contents

Abstract2

Introduction4

Discussion4

Charges against Blagojevich4

Blagojevich's Conviction: Facts6

Ethical Implications8

Conclusion9

References10

Introduction

Rod Blagojevich is an American politician and former Governor of Illinois. Since 2005, the politician has been under investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation on the charges of corruption. Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald charged the former governor Blagojevich and John Harris, the Chief of Staff of the governor on the charges of corruption. The scandal attracted much attention from the national and international news media and resulted in Blagojevich's indictment on the charges of corruption in April 2009. Earlier, the General Assembly of Illinois impeached Rod Blagojevich which precipitated his removal from the office by Illinois State in January 2009 (Coen, & Chase, 2012).

Rod Blagojevich, a democrat and the 40th Governor of Illinois served as the State Representative followed by his election as the United States House of Representatives. He represented parts of Chicago in the House of Representatives. Federal authorities have arrested Blagojevich on multiple charges of corruption including solicitation of bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud. Consequently he was sentenced to serve 14 years in prison on December 7, 2011.

Discussion

Charges against Blagojevich

There jury decided to sentence the former governor on 20 counts. The brief discussion of the charges against Rod Blagojevich is as follows;

Counts 1-10

Wire Fraud: Nearly all the counts are related to various allegations leveled against Blagojevich accusing of him of attempting to sell United States President Barack Obama's Senate seat. Each of these counts can result in a maximum of 20 years in prison.

Count 11

Attempted Extortion: This count is related to the allegations that Blagojevich allegedly attempted to force the then United States Representative Emanuel's brother who was a Hollywood agent to arrange a fundraiser for him and threatened to hold a school grant if he failed to do so. This count also carries maximum of 20 years in prison.

Count 12

Attempted Extortion: The count is related to an alleged attempt by Blagojevich to force the Chief Executive Officer of the Children's Memorial Hospital to contribute to an election campaign. The count, too, can result in maximum 20 years sentence in prison.

Count 13

Soliciting Bribe: Allegation against the former governor for allegedly shaking down the executive of Children's Memorial Hospital. This count has the maximum penalty of 10 years.

Count 14

Extortion Conspiracy: The count entails alleged conspiracy by the former governor Blagojevich with the help of an aide to force an executive of racetrack to contribute for to an election campaign. The maximum penalty for this count is 20 years.

Count 15

Bribery Conspiracy: The count is the closely related to and continuation of the previous one and involves alleged shakedown of racetrack ...