CHICAGO — Ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s most recent chief of staff, former chief fundraiser and another Illinois political insider pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that they took part in what prosecutors allege was widespread corruption.
Blagojevich pleaded not guilty Tuesday to plotting to sell or trade President Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat and a tangled web of other alleged corruption. Pleading not guilty in the case Thursday were former chief of staff John Harris, former fundraising chairman Christopher Kelly and Springfield power broker William Cellini.
The scene was tame compared to the media scrum that swirled through the courthouse and into the street Tuesday as Blagojevich apparently hoped for a judge’s permission to go to Costa Rica to appear on the NBC reality show “I’m a Celebrity . . . Get Me Out of Here!”
