SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Before he even took office as Illinois governor, Rod Blagojevich and a group of associates hatched a plot to earn illegal profits through official powers and divide the money among themselves after he left office, a new federal grand jury indictment alleges.

The allegations, unveiled Thursday afternoon in Chicago, describe a deliberate plan among Blagojevich, his brother, now-convicted associate Antoin "Tony" Rezko and others to milk Illinois government for profit through the steering of contracts, extorting political donations and other means.

The indictment charges Blagojevich, 52, a Democrat, with 16 felony counts, including racketeering, wire fraud, extortion conspiracy, and making false statements to federal agents.

It expands on earlier criminal charges against Blagojevich, who was arrested at his Chicago home Dec. 9 on corruption charges and later impeached and removed from office.

The 74-page indictment alleges Blagojevich was at the center of a "wide-ranging scheme to deprive the people of Illinois of honest government." The charges include allegations that the governor attempted to collect kickbacks on the refinancing of billions of dollars in state pension system funds.

Blagojevich has previously been accused of attempting to profit from his power to appoint a replacement to President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat, a charge that is repeated in Thursday's indictment.

The indictment also alleges that Blagojevich, in an interview with federal agents, told them he "maintains a separation of firewall between politics and state business" and "does not track, or want to know, who contributes to him or how much they are contributing to him."

The Illinois Senate and the nation heard otherwise in January, when FBI wiretapped conversations were played during impeachment proceedings. The tapes included Blagojevich discussing, with his brother Rob and others, the collection of specific political donations in exchange for official action through his position as governor.

Among the most startling information in the indictment is the claim that Blagojevich and others specifically set out to illegally profit through his new administration as early as 2002 — the year he was first elected — with detailed plans to divide the money after he left office.

"In a series of conversations that began in 2002 and continued after defendant Rod Blagojevich was elected governor in November 2002, defendants Blagojevich (and others) … agreed that they would use (his) position as governor … for financial gain, which would be divided among them, with the understanding that the money would be distributed after Rod Blagojevich left public office," the indictment alleges.

If convicted, Blagojevich could face up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 in fines on each of 15 of the counts against him. The giving false statements charge carries a five-year prison term upon conviction.

Blagojevich, who is free on bond, was in Florida visiting Walt Disney World with his family when Thursday's indictment was handed up. He issued a statement proclaiming his innocence and urging the public to withhold judgement until all the facts are revealed.

Also indicted were Blagojevich's brother, Rob Blagojevich, 53, who acted as his campaign chairman; William Cellini, 74, a long-time Springfield Republican power-broker; Christopher Kelly, 50, a businessman and campaign fundraiser; businessman Alonzo Monk, 50; and former Blagojevich chief of staff John Harris, 47.

The U.S. attorney's announcement of the indictment Thursday specifies that Harris is cooperating with the government in its case against Blagojevich.

The indictment is the latest chapter in a drama that has rocked Illinois since Blagojevich's arrest late last year. Blagojevich has appeared on "Larry King Live," "Late Night With David Letterman" and other national television shows proclaiming his innocence. He reportedly has signed a six-figure book deal, even as he awaits his federal criminal trial later this year.

"We can only hope the former governor does not view this indictment as a green light for another publicity tour," U.S. Sen. Richard Durbin, D-Ill., said in a prepared statement, referring to Blagojevich's string of national talk show appearances proclaiming his innocence since his arrest. "Rod Blagojevich deserves his day in court, but the people of Illinois deserve a break."

Illinois politicos in both parties on Thursday lamented Illinois' continued soiled reputation as a result of the continuing Blagojevich drama.

"The easy part, quite frankly, was impeaching the guy. The hard part is now cleaning up the mess," said state Rep. Chapin Rose, R-Mahomet. He recounted the story of a friend of his who traveled to Hong Kong on a business trip and was surprised to see Blagojevich on the front page of a local newspaper. "He goes out of his hotel room and he's like, 'You gotta be kidding me!' He can't even speak or read Chinese, but there's Rod Blagojevich's picture. How do you come back from that?"



Kari Andren of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.