Cellini, 77, was once known to political insiders as the King of Clout for his behind-the-scenes influence in state government. He was convicted last year for his role in trying to get a $1.5 million campaign contribution for Blagojevich from Thomas Rosenberg — the Oscar-winning producer of "Million Dollar Baby" — in exchange for state business.

Judge James Zagel sentenced Cellini to one year and one day in prison.

Defense attorneys had asked Zagel for probation, pointing to Cellini's poor health and the limited time period involved in the wrongdoing.

Prosecutors recommended a 6 1/2- to eight-year prison sentence. They too asked Zagel to take Cellini's health into account, but noted the crime was serious because it involved public officials.

Cellini suffered a heart attack in June while undergoing a medical procedure.

"Mr. Cellini is in the twilight of his life," defense attorney Dan Webb told Zagel.

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Jurors delivered their verdicts Monday after deliberating nine days.

Blagojevich had faced 20 charges, including that he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat and schemed to shake down executives for campaign donations.

Blagojevich testified for seven days, denying wrongdoing. Prosecutors said he lied and the proof was on FBI wiretaps. Those included a widely parodied clip in which Blagojevich calls the Senate opportunity "f------ golden."

Jurors in his first trial deadlocked on all but one charge, convicting Blagojevich of lying to the FBI. Prosecutors opted to try him again.

Blagojevich already faces up to five years for the lying conviction.

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A five-page motion filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago insists that Blagojevich isn't conceding any guilt, including on the conviction of lying to the FBI. That's the lone count jurors agreed on at his otherwise deadlocked trial last year.

The motion says the broke ex-governor, whose legal bills are supposed to be paid by the government, wants to forego a retrial on grounds that none of his lawyers have been paid for months of pretrial preparations.

"Should this motion be granted . . . funds for the second trial would no longer be necessary," the motions says. An added bonus, it continues, would be "no further cost to taxpayers."

Blagojevich, 54, faces a maximum five-year prison term for the lying count. It was widely expected that a sentencing date for that conviction would only be set after the retrial was over.

At that trial do-over, currently scheduled to start on April 20, Blagojevich faces 20 charges, including that he sought to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat in exchange for a top job or campaign cash.

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But it was apparent that the Obama crew had always maintained a healthy distance from the embarrassing and hilarious Blago, and despite his attorneys' attempts to compel testimony from Valerie Jarrett and Rahm Emanuel, nothing at all remotely damaging to the White House actually happened. And then the trial ended with deadlock on 23 counts and a conviction on one minor count. Which means: retrial. Which means: Fire up the "White House to be tainted by scandal" stories again!

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Prosecutors pledged to retry the case as soon as possible.

"This jury shows you that the government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me," Blagojevich said later outside court. "They could not prove I did anything wrong -- except for one nebulous charge from five years ago."

Blagojevich -- known for his showmanlike, over-the-top personality -- showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Before jurors came in, he sat with his hands folded, looking down and picking nervously at his fingernails. He and his lawyer said they would appeal the conviction.

The verdict came on the 14th day of deliberations, ending an 11-week trial during which a foul-mouthed Blagojevich was heard on secret FBI wiretap tapes saying the power to name a senator was "(expletive) golden" and that he wasn't going to give up "for (expletive) nothing."

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Former deputy governor Bradley Tusk had testified that Blagojevich had planned to hold up a $2 million grant to a school in the district represented by Emanuel -- then a U.S. congressman and now White House chief of staff -- until Emanuel's Hollywood-agent brother held a fundraiser.

Tusk had said that he ignored a Blagojevich directive to deliver the message to Emanuel -- because, he said, he thought the plan was "both illegal and unethical."

After hearing objections from defense attorneys, Judge James B. Zagel granted the jurors' request but also said they should make their own assessment of Tusk's credibility. It wasn't immediately clear how soon jurors would receive the transcripts.

Jurors had returned to court Monday for their 13th day of deliberations. They created a stir last week with a note to Zagel signaling they're stuck on several of the 24 counts against Blagojevich. They say they've agreed to only two. Zagel told them to deliberate further on wire fraud counts that they had not considered.

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In a note read in court by Judge James Zagel, jurors said they had only managed to agree on two of 24 counts against Blagojevich, and had not even begun discussing 11 of the counts.

On the 12th day of deliberations, Zagel instructed the jury to go back and continue their work, but the panel's disclosure sparked speculation that some jurors had doubts about the prosecution's case.

"It's a victory for the defense for several reasons," said Douglas Godfrey, a law professor at Chicago-Kent College of Law, arguing that the way the government had presented its case was extremely complex. "If the jury hangs on 22, it's a big blow to government."

Michael Helfand, a Chicago defense attorney not involved in the case, agreed there was potentially positive news in the note for Blagojevich.

"The defense has every reason to be thrilled," Helfand said. "This jury has been deliberating for such a long time, the chances of someone changing their mind now aren't good."

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There's still no indication Wednesday of whether jurors are simply taking their time to walk through all the evidence or if they're bogged down in arguments.

Since they began deliberations, they've only sent two notes to the judge. The last was sent on their third day of deliberations. That's made it hard to glean how discussions are going.

Jurors have worked every weekday, but taken weekends off.

Blagojevich faces 24 counts, including charges of trying to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat. He has pleaded not guilty.

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The jury got the case Wednesday morning after the judge gave them instructions on how their deliberations should be conducted.

Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, were in court for the proceedings. Before court began, an elderly woman told Blagojevich she was praying for him. He put his hand over his heart and thanked her.

Blagojevich and his brother, co-defendant Robert Blagojevich, have pleaded not guilty to charges of scheming to sell or trade an appointment to the U.S. Senate seat Barack Obama gave up when he was elected president and illegally pressuring people for campaign donations.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Jurors will go off to deliberate the fate of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich with the image of an immaculately dressed and smiling man with his two daughters sitting nearby in the courtroom, but also with the memory of him cursing in the vilest of terms about everyone from the president to the voters who elected him.

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Blagojevich had long pledged to take the stand in his own defense, saying for months that he wanted to do so to set the record straight.

But his attorneys initially said Tuesday they could rest the case without calling a single witness. They confirmed that Wednesday. They say the prosecution did not prove its case.

Experts have said putting Blagojevich on the stand could be risky.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to scheming to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and to scheming to launch a racketeering operation in the governor's office.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CHICAGO (AP) -- Rod Blagojevich's attorneys say the ousted Illinois governor will not testify at his corruption trial.

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In court papers Monday, prosecutors say Blagojevich and his attorneys have made remarks suggesting they might bring up fundraiser Christopher Kelly's suicide at the trial.

The contractor headed Blagojevich's campaign committee and was found dead of an apparent overdose last September. Blagojevich later was quoted as saying Kelly took his life because of the stress of the situation.

The former governor is charged with scheming to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat. He's denied any wrongdoing.

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The former governor, whom Illinois lawmakers ousted from office last year, has been kicked off NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."

"Apprentice" boss Donald Trump fired the ex-governor on Sunday's episode after Blagojevich struggled as team leader in creating an interactive display.

As on a previous episode, technology posed a surprising hurdle for Blagojevich. On Sunday's show, he had trouble sending text messages and e-mailing.

Blagojevich's team members complained that he didn't give them clear instructions.

He was thrown out of office in January 2009 and faces a federal indictment alleging political corruption while in office. Blagojevich has denied any wrongdoing.

------

On the Net:

Celebrity Apprentice: http://www.nbc.com/the-apprentice/

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Blagojevich's attorneys asked U.S. District Judge James B. Zagel last week to postpone the trial, which is scheduled to begin June 3, by five months.

Prosecutors told Zagel that Blagojevich "has repeatedly and publicly challenged the legitimacy of the charges against him."

"As a result, the public has a strong interest in the expeditious resolution of the charges -- an interest that would not be served by an unnecessary delay of five months in the start of his trial," prosecutors said.

They also reminded Zagel that by June 3, Blagojevich will have had more than a year to prepare with a number of lawyers working on his behalf.

Blagojevich is charged with racketeering conspiracy and other offenses that include allegations he schemed to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat and illegally pressured people doing business with the state for campaign contributions. He has pleaded not guilty.

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(Spoiler alert: Apparently, the funniest thing about the man who tried to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat is... his hair?)

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Perhaps one of the more interesting quotes from the piece, which is worth reading in full, is this one. It seems particularly relevant given the buzz around Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's comment about President Obama, who he said has "no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one." Blagojevich:

This guy, he was catapulted in on hope and change, what we hope the guy is. What the fuck? Everything he's saying's on the teleprompter. I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived. I saw it all growing up.

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Based on the complete lack of self-reflection displayed by his subject, editor David Remnick's new piece on the disgraced former Illinois governor reads like Thurber-esque satire. If Blagojevich's arrogance, alleged attempts to use his office as a personal revenue stream and flirtation with reality TV hadn't convinced the world already that the man known as Blago lives in his own little world, Remnick's piece provides added confirmation.

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