Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich was convicted Monday afternoon of 17 counts of corruption and related charges, including trying to sell or exchange President Barack Obama’s former senate seat.

Guilty verdicts on 10 counts of wire fraud, one count of extortion conspiracy and attempted extortion in relation to selling the senate seat each carry sentences of up to 20 years in prison.

When sentenced later this year, Blagojevich is almost certain to get a significant prison term that experts said could be 10 to 15 years.

“Gov. Blagojevich will be going to jail for quite some time,” said Matt Streb, NIU political science professor.

Streb said the interesting thing about Blagojevich’s corruption is his solicitation of bribes. Most often, when people think of political corruption, Streb said, they think of third parties bribing officials to support bills. In Blagojevich’s case, he was putting out offers for third parties to bribe him.

“That’s a very different thing than we usually think about in corruption,” Streb said.

State Rep. Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley, who participated in the impeachment hearing of Blagojevich in 2007, said Blagojevich’s corruption was unparalleled.

“He just took the kind of unethical behavior that [former Gov. George Ryan] had been charged of and took it to new heights,” Pritchard said.

Blagojevich becomes the second straight Illinois governor convicted of corruption. His predecessor, Ryan, is now serving 6½ years in federal prison.

Pritchard said political corruption in Illinois is not unique to Blagojevich and Ryan.

“Trends are established by more than just two incidences,” he said. “If you look at the last seven or so governors, way too many of them have been charged with criminal activity. Clearly we do have a trend.”

Streb disagrees. He said he believes he’s in the minority when he says that Blagojevich and former Gov. Ryan’s convictions are not emblematic of a climate of corruption in Illinois politics.

“In reality, that just isn’t the case, but it’s easy to understand why the public believes that,” he said.

Streb said that Illinois has a different political climate than other states, but that most people working in government are trying to do so ethically.

Pritchard said it is a “sad commentary” for those in government working ethically because cases like Blagojevich’s lead to public cynicism of government.

“Those of us who are trying to act honorably and ethically and abide by the law and the trust that citizens [have] given us are saddened by this,” he said. “…I hope this sends a warning…to other state leaders that they can’t profit to the office they’ve been elected to.”

To stop the corruption trend, Pritchard said voters must hold their elected officials accountable.

“Really this comes down to the voters and prosecutors; they have to be vigilant,” he said.

Streb said a lot of Illinois citizens were unhappy that the case was being retried because of the cost. With Illinois facing serious budgetary problems, Streb said he thinks many Illinois citizens will gladly focus on new matters.

“I think most Illinoisans will be happy to have this chapter of our history over with, and they’ll be happy to move on,” he said.

Pritchard said though the case is heading in the right direction, the verdict is only one step.

“We still have the sentencing. We still have appeals that could be filed,” he said. “This thing is not over yet.”

A sentencing is set for Aug. 1.

Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.