As he turned to the cameras, something he likes to do, former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich told Spanish-lanuage reporters, "No culpable."That means not guilty. But he was found guilty of one count of lying to the FBI and could face a $250,000 fine and up to five years in jail.Only one juror stood in the way of him being convicted of trying to sell Barack Obama's Senate seat, and I think he should face a retrial.

But I'd like to weigh in on what Blagojevich's conviction means to many in the Latino community where he had significant support and a decent track record.In 2005, he signed a bill, SB 2043, to help state agencies hire more Hispanics at the supervisory, technical, professional and managerial levels."Hispanics are the fastest growing group in Illinois. As we recognize their contributions to the state's economy and diversity, we need to make sure they have increased access to jobs in state government," Blagojevich said in a press release at the time.

At that time he also had appointed more than 60 Latinos to high-level positions in his cabinet, state agencies, state boards and commissions.He also supported additional funding for bilingual education and in July 2007 announced almost $200,000 in state grants for rural and small school districts to provide ESL instruction for migrant children.These are just a few examples of what he did for the state's Latinos.Blagojevich, the son of Serbian immigrants, also speaks Spanish. READ FULL STORY
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