Elvis and Blagojevich items leaving the building for auction

Elvis will be all shook up next week when a life-size statue of the pop icon and seven wooden crates containing relics of ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich's tenure go on the auction block.

Boyer-Rosene Moving & Storage in Arlington Heights has scheduled a sale of property belonging to the former governor's campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich, at 1 p.m. Aug. 19 at its warehouse.

Seven crates and the statue of Elvis Presley - Blagojevich is a huge Elvis fan - were stored at Boyer-Rosene in 2002, but it's been more than a year since the company received a payment.

Now at least several thousand dollars is due and company CFO Joe Saverino said the company is intending to auction off the items and give the proceeds to Children's Memorial Hospital, an institution Blagojevich is accused of trying to shake down for campaign contributions.

Boyer-Rosene staff told the Daily Herald they'll miss Elvis, who's become a fixture at the storage facility. One intriguing mystery is what's in the seven crates. A legal notice published by Boyer-Rosene lists documents, canceled checks, bank statements and unspecified personal property as the contents.

Federal investigators never touched the boxes during their investigation of Blagojevich - which could culminate this week if the jury returns a verdict in his corruption trial.

Saverino said they were driven to auctioning the items when representatives for the former governor did not return phone calls after promising to look into the debt.