Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Former governor Rod Blagojevich could be indicted on corruption charges Thursday. And CBS 2's Derrick Blakley reports he may not be the only Blagojevich standing before a judge.

The clock is ticking and federal prosecutors have to drop a criminal indictment on Rod Blagojevich by next Tuesday at the very latest.

But there's still plenty of speculation about how many of his family members will face charges as well.

First, there's his brother, Rob Blagojevich, who worked as the governor's chief fundraiser.

"The question is whether he was part of a criminal conspiracy, dealing with the governor's campaign fund, since he was head of it," said CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller.

Brother Rob Blagojevich is also the man who approached Roland Burris for a $10,000 contribution to the governor, before Blagojevich appointed Burris to the Senate.

And former first lady Patti Blagojevich is very much under the federal microscope as well. Some were calling her "potty-mouth Patti" after federal wiretaps recorded her unleashing a stream of profanity against the Chicago Tribune, one of her husband's perceived enemies.

"It's not against the law to be in the kitchen and swear, and that's essentially what they have," said defense attorney Richard Kling.

But no one knows what else Patti may have said on the tapes. We do know the Feds have been snooping around her lucrative real estate dealings for years.

"The scuttlebutt is that the investigation is centering more on her real estate business than anything having to do with her husband as governor of Illinois," Kling said. 

A source tells CBS 2 Patti's indictment "is not a slam dunk, just 50-50." The source says U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has spent a lot of time lately putting people before the grand jury regarding Patti Blagojevich's activities.

She is expected to be named in the indictment, probably in alphabetical fed-speak, like "Spouse A," perhaps as a shot across the former governor's bow to cooperate and not go to trial. But will that work?

Indicting both parents could trigger an outpouring of sympathy for the couple's two daughters - balanced against the outrage touched off by those tapes.

"That could offend a lot of people which would overcome that sympathy factor," Miller said.

In case you're wondering if there's precedent for sending both parents of young kids to prison, there is.

In the Enron scandal, executive Andrew Fastow and his wife both went to prison, but they served their sentences at different times, so one could take care of the kids.

Sources tell CBS 2 to expect a "mammoth indictment" against the former governor detailing pay-to-play schemes during his entire six years in office.

The others likely to be named in Thursday's expected indictment?

Former Chief of Staff John Harris, who was arrested by the FBI on December 9 at the same time as the governor.

Advisor John Wyma. Now a lobbyist, Wyma wore a wire to get incriminating evidence against Blagojevich last fall.

Advisor Lon Monk, who has been Blagojevich's closest political advisor.

Fundraiser Chris Kelly, under previous indictment on tax and fraud charges related to his commercial roofing business.

Influence peddler Bill Cellini, who is under previous indictment in a pay to play scheme.

Harris, Wyma, Monk and Rob Blagojevich all are expected to cooperate with the government's investigation. They may appear in the indictment as having already agreed to co-operate.

Cellini and Kelly will wait and see before deciding to roll over on Blagojevich the source says.

CBS 2's Derrick Blakley contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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