Blagojevich jury to resume deliberations

CHICAGO, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Jurors in the Chicago federal corruption trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich ended their long weekend Monday and began a 13th day of deliberations.

When the panel quit for the week Thursday, it told U.S. District Judge James Zagel it had reached agreement on only two of 24 counts against Blagojevich and hadn't even voted on 11 wire fraud charges.

Blagojevich is charged with racketeering, mail fraud, attempted extortion and bribery, including trying to sell to the highest bidder the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama. His brother and former fundraiser, Robert Blagojevich, is charged with four counts of wire fraud, conspiracy and attempted extortion.

The wire fraud charges are for specific acts, including Blagojevich's alleged attempts to gain personally from the Senate appointment. A jury must convict Blagojevich on many of the wire fraud allegations to find him guilty of racketeering, the Chicago Tribune said.

If the jury cannot reach agreement on as many as 22 of the 24 counts -- particularly the racketeering and conspiracy charges, the U.S. attorney's office would have to decide whether to retry the Blagojevich brothers.