Blagojevich's brother: 'We are not guilty'

CHICAGO, Sept. 5 (UPI) -- Impeached Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother says he is "not a criminal" and has been unfairly targeted by federal prosecutors.

Robert Blagojevich, 54, of Tennessee, said he would go to trial with his brother and would not testify against him or plead guilty.

"I plan to go to trial. We're co-defendants, and we are not guilty on those charges," Rob Blagojevich told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I would not testify against my brother."

Rob Blagojevich, a former Army officer and Nashville businessman, had not been active in politics and was a registered Republican until his younger brother asked him in 2006 to raise money for his campaign for governor, the Sun-Times reported.

Now Rob Blagojevich is under indictment on wire-fraud charges. Among other things, federal prosecutors allege he took orders from his brother to tell a friend of U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. he would have to put up "tangible" campaign contributions if he wanted the governor to appoint Jackson to a Senate seat.

The former governor is charged with attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Rob Blagojevich, who was paid $12,500 a month as fund-raising chairman, refused to talk in detail about the criminal case, the Sun-Times said.

But he did refer to a secretly recorded exchange between him and Roland Burris, who ultimately got the Senate appointment. Burris says on the tape, which was played as part of a U.S. Senate ethics inquiry, that he wants to give to the governor's campaign but is concerned about how that would appear, given he was seeking the Senate seat.

Rob Blagojevich responds by saying others also were seeking the appointment.

"How I conducted myself with Burris is how I conducted myself with everyone when no one was looking," he told the Sun-Times.

He said he had spent 21 years in the Army and always lived by the rules. He took offense, he said, because the federal government he served had turned on him.

"We're not a perfect people, but I'm not a criminal," he said. "This is just not fair. It's absolutely not fair."