Ex-Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich found guilty; convicted of trying to sell or trade Obama Senate seat

Rod Blagojevich's next reality TV show is likely to be a prison drama.

The helmet-haired former Illinois goveor and Celebrity Apprentice castmember was convicted Monday of trying to sell or trade President Obama's old Senate seat and a raft of other corruption charges.

Blago's ever-present grin faded fast as the jury found him guilty of 17 of the 20 charge he faced. His foul-mouthed spouse, Patti, burst into tears.

Later, Blagojevich said he was "frankly stunned" by the verdict.

The jury, which had deliberated for nine days, also found him guilty of scheming to shakedown executives for campaign donations.

Blagojevich, 54, is the second consecutive Illinois goveor to be convicted of corruption - and the fourth in the state's history. No sentencing date was set.

For seven days Blagojevich insisted on the stand that he was innocent and had done nothing illegal. He called himself an "effin' jerk" for swearing so much.

Blagojevich said his ramblings, which were caught on FBI wiretaps, were just big talk.

Federal prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald called Blago's blathering evidence of a "political crime spree."

In one infamous snippet, the ex-goveor was caught calling the possible sale of Obama's old seat "f-----g golden."

Jurors in Blago's first corruption trial deadlocked on all but one charge, convicting the disgraced Democrat of lying to the FBI.

Blagojevich, who appeared in season nine of The Celebrity Apprentice, already faces up to five years for the lying conviction.

The loud-mouthed Chicagoan was arrested in December 2008 and the Illinois Legislature impeached him a month later.

His case quickly tued into a circus.

Both Blagojevich and his wife went on television to insist on his innocence and launched careers in reality TV to help pay for their mounting legal bills.

In the course of the retrial, Blagojevich's defense attoeys hauled into court Chicago's new Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. Neither helped his case.