Judge gives feds more time to get Blago indictment

As expected, A federal judge Monday granted prosecutors' request for 90 more days to bring an indictment against Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.

The motion by the government had not been opposed by Blagojevich's lawyers, and was granted prior to a 2 p.m. hearing scheduled to address that and other matters.

James F. Holderman, chief judge of the Northern District of Illinois, granted the request because "this is a case in which arrest preceded indictment and the arrest occurred at a time such that it would be unreasonable to expect return and filing of the indictment within a shorter time period and because the facts upon which the grand jury must base its determination are complex; and the failure to grant such an extension would deny the government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation of the evidence for presentation to the Grand Jury."

The order gives the government until April 7 to bring an indictment; the earlier deadline had been Wednesday.

The two sides will still convene at 2 p.m. before Holderman to determine if he will allow the government to release a limited amount of recordings to the Illinois legislature, which is considering impeaching Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to sell the U.S. Senate appointment and attempting to solicit a bribe in exchange for signing legislation that benefited the horseracing industry.