Lawyers for convicted former governor Rod Blagojevich and federal prosecutors convened in court Thursday to set a date for the long-delayed trial of his alleged Blago middle-man, William Cellini.
Cellini's trial has been set for Aug. 22, when he'll face charges of of fraud, extortion conspiracy and attempted extortion. While he was indicted with Blago, their trials were later separated. Thursday's hearing, however, determined that they will have the same judge, James B. Zagel.
An earlier hearing determined the criteria for Blagojevich's retrial, including setting a trial date for April and reducing his defense team from 12 to 2 lawyers.
Blagojevich was convicted back in August for lying to the FBI, one of 24 counts against him. The retrial will look at the deadlock charges which include where or not Blagojevich tried to sell or trade an appointment to President Barack Obama's old U.S. Senate seat for a top job or campaign cash.
