'Erosion of public trust': The real reasons why Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to prison

Another top Trump target, Robert Mueller, was in charge of the FBI then and the federal conspiracy case against Blagojevich was about much more than a phone call.Blagojevich, a former state representative and U.S. congressman, was elected to the first of his two terms as Illinois governor in 2002, "based on a promise to restore integrity and trust in government," prosecutors noted in court papers.His predecessor, Republican George Ryan, was convicted on fraud, racketeering, bribery, extortion and money laundering charges and sentenced to six and half years in prison.Prosecutors said Blagojevich and others working for him began "a pattern of racketeering activity" soon after he took office, using the powers of the governorship in "exchange for financial benefits for themselves and others."He was arrested in late 2008 for trying to profit from selling off Obama's senate seat, and was impeached in January 2009 after he refused to resign.He embarked on a lengthy media tour to try to rehabilitate his image, which included signing up as a contestant on Trump's reality show "The Celebrity Apprentice" in 2010.