Judge: Blago Show a No-Go

Posted on Apr 21, 2009

weblogs.cltv.com

Disgraced former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich had high hopes of recouping his public image—or at least making a little cash—by joining a gaggle of “famous” people willing to do anything to stay in the limelight (putting it generously) in NBC’s reality show “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” But alas, those dreams have been dashed.

AP via Google News:

“I don’t think this defendant fully understands and I don’t think he could understand ... the position he finds himself in,” U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel said in denying the impeached and indicted former governor permission to leave the country.

Blagojevich, 52, has pleaded not guilty to racketeering, fraud and other charges that allege he schemed to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s former U.S. Senate seat and plotted to use the muscle of the governor’s office to pressure companies for campaign money.

Blagojevich had hoped to make some money to support his family by heading to Costa Rica in June to be on NBC’s “I’m a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!” — a program similar to “Survivor” — while attorneys in Chicago worked on his case.

But Zagel said his time would be better spent helping his lawyers cope with the mound of documentary evidence prosecutors will soon turn over to the defense.

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