Sentencing ex-Ill. Gov. Blagojevich on conviction in 1st trial likely to await outcome of 2nd

Sentencing likely to await Blagojevich retrial

CHICAGO — As former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich works the national media circuit proclaiming his innocence, he has publicly ignored one consequence of his conviction on a single count.

He now faces a prison term of up to five years for lying to the FBI.

Just how and when he’s sentenced depends on different factors. They include plans by prosecutors to retry him on 23 counts jurors deadlocked on and Blagojevich’s own vow to appeal the conviction.

Lying to authorities carries the least severe penalty of the charges Blagojevich faced in the first trial. Some legal observers believe he could receive a sentence of between six months to three years on that charge.

But former federal prosecutor Jeff Cramer says there’s little chance sentencing on that charge will happen before any retrial ends.