Operation Board Games, a widening, five-year probe of pay-to-play corruption in Illinois state government, culminated on Dec. 9 with the arrests of Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) and John Harris, his chief of staff, for conspiring to commit fraud and soliciting bribes. Among other things, Blagojevich sought contributions from an unnamed local concrete firm executive and active member of Skokie-Ill.-based American Concrete Pavement Association in exchange for contracts under a $1.8-billion program to upgrade the state’s toll roads, U.S. attorneys say. If the funds were raised to his liking by the end of the year, the governor would have increased the

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford and two associates were arrested on Dec. 2 and charged with 101 federal counts including bribery and money laundering in connection with bond transactions and swap agreements related to bonds for a $3-billion county sewer project and other municipal financial deals. The charges stem from Langford’s time as president of the Jefferson County Commission and head of its Dept. of Finance and General Services. He was charged with soliciting bribes in exchange for steering business to William Blount, a Montgomery, Ala., investment banker. It was a classic pay-for-play scheme tied to the sewer bonds, says U.S.