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Rod Blagojevich's former chief of staff, John Harris, was sentenced Wednesday to 10 days in prison for helping his old boss try to sell the Senate seat formerly held by President Obama. The sentencing by Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court came two weeks after Mr. Blagojevich, the former governor, reported to prison to serve a 14-year sentence on related charges. Mr. Harris pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery in a 2010 plea agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three political power brokers who were indicted along with former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich pleaded not guilty in federal court to accusations that they were part of the ''Blagojevich enterprise,'' a web of corruption that prosecutors have described as a scheme to enrich the participants at the state's expense. The men, Christopher Kelly, 50, Mr. Blagojevich's former fund-raiser; John Harris, 47, a former chief of staff; and William Cellini, 74, a Springfield businessman and lobbyist, entered their pleas before Judge James B. Zagel of Federal District Court in Chicago. Mr. Blagojevich pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to the charges in the 19-count indictment, which accuses him of trying to sell the Senate seat vacated by President Obama, among other things. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article reports on the not guilty plea of John Harris, Christopher Kelly and William Cellini in the fraud case against former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The first two were involved as fundraisers for Blagojevich while the last was a power broker. The prosecutors describes the charges to three along with Blagojevich as a tangled web of political fraud. It says that Blagojevich also pleaded not guilty to the charge of plotting to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former US. Senate seat.

The article reports on the criminal complaint against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich which include more than $500,000 in unpaid legal bills. Accordingly, the governor's political fund allegedly stopped paying a portion of the millions of dollars in legal fees owed to law firm Winston & Strawn LLP when he was faced by a yearslong federal investigation into his administration. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were charged by federal prosecutors with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

The article reports that U.S. federal prosecutors said that Illinois Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich has engaged in a "staggering" conspiracy to sell or trade the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama in return for jobs and other benefits for himself and his wife, Patti. Blagojevich and Chief of Staff John Harris are under arrest and the affidavit said that governor was intercepted on court-authorized wiretaps conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat.