Feds Drop Some of Blago's Charges
The AP reports:
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge for permission to dismiss racketeering charges against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge James Zagel the accusations contained in the charges are duplicated in other counts. The move is an attempt to simplify the government's case after jurors in Blagojevich's first trial said the two dozen counts were confusing.
The charges prosecutors are moving to dismiss are count one, two and four in the original indictment - racketeering, racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.
The surprise motion to dismiss the three charges came in the final minutes of a 45-minute status hearing.
"It will make it a little less complicated," prosecutor Reid Schar told the judge about a scaled down indictment.
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