Jury convicted Rod R.Blagojevich.

CHICAGO — A jury on Monday convicted Rod R. Blagojevich, the former governor of Illinois, of trying to personally benefit from his role in selecting a replacement for President Obama in the United States Senate.

Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat whose former aides say once saw himself as a presidential contender some day, was found guilty of 17 counts of wire fraud, attempted extortion, bribery, extortion conspiracy and bribery conspiracy. He was acquitted on one charge of bribery, and the jury deadlocked on two counts of attempted extortion.

The verdict appeared to be the conclusion, at last, to the spectacle of Mr. Blagojevich’s political career, which began its spiraling descent shortly after Mr. Obama was elected president in November 2008. A month after Election Day, Mr. Blagojevich, who under state law was required to name a senator to replace Mr. Obama, was arrested, and federal agents revealed that they had secretly recorded hundreds of hours of damaging phone calls by him and his advisers.

As the counts were read in court, and one “guilty” followed another, Mr. Blagojevich looked back at his wife, Patti, at one point. She slumped into the arms of a relative, eyes closed, and wiped away tears.

After the verdict was read, a solemn Mr. Blagojevich spoke to reporters in the lobby of the courthouse with his wife Patti by his side.

"Patti and I, obviously, are very disappointed by the outcome," he said. "I, frankly, am stunned. There is not much left to say other than we want to get home to our little girls and explain things to them."

Mr. Blagojevich, a lawyer and former state and federal lawmaker, was accused of trying to secure campaign contributions, a cabinet post or a high-paying job in exchange for his official acts as governor — whether that was picking a senator, supporting particular legislation or deciding how to spend state money.

The outcome came as a victory for federal prosecutors, whose earlier trial of Mr. Blagojevich resulted in a deadlocked jury on most counts and led people to wonder whether Mr. Blagojevich’s behavior would ultimately be deemed crass political deal-making or a lot of blustery talk, but not rise to the level of a crime.

For Democrats here, in a state government they almost entirely control, the final chapter could not come soon enough. By turns, Illinois residents had been mortified by the saga, amused by its circus-like antics and, most recently, weary of the whole thing.

Mr. Blagojevich’s impeachment, removal from office and evolution into a punch line on late night television threatened the Democratic Party’s political hold on the state, created an outcry to reform lax state campaign finance and public records laws, and led to added scrutiny of some of this city’s best-known politicians, including Mr. Obama, Rahm Emanuel (the president’s former chief of staff and now Chicago’s mayor), and Representative Jesse L. Jackson Jr.

The scandal also reaffirmed an image that Illinois (where corruption, by one university’s estimate, has cost taxpayers more than $300 million a year) has long wished to shed: If Mr. Blagojevich goes to prison, he will be the fourth governor in recent memory to be imprisoned (one for acts committed after leaving office). It was a particularly swift fall for Mr. Blagojevich, who campaigned for governor on a reform agenda after a corruption scandal undid his Republican predecessor, George Ryan, who remains in federal prison.

Mr. Blagojevich, 54, the father of two girls, still faces sentencing on the earlier conviction, one count of lying to the F.B.I. about how much he kept track of his campaign fund-raising. That conviction carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

The most serious of the counts he was convicted of on Monday carry penalties of up to 20 years in prison.

The jury — 11 women and 1 man — took 10 days to reach their decision. The jury in the first trial deliberated for 14 days.

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Emma G. Fitzsimmons contributed reporting.

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