Blago Sends Patrick Fitzgerald a Music Card:

Lone juror 'refused to find Blagojevich guilty'

A single juror prevented former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich being convicted of selling Barack Obama's Senate seat, the jury foreman has said.

The juror, a female retiree, believed there wasn't sufficient evidence - "a smoking gun" - to warrant a conviction for corruption, James Matsumoto said.

"She saw it as, no crime was being committed. It was just talk - political talk," Mr Matsumoto told reporters.

The Chicago federal jury convicted Blagojevich of lying to FBI agents.

That charge carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.

The jury was unable to reach unanimous verdicts on 23 other corruption charges. On several charges, the same juror held out.