Washington - Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and his chief of staff were arrested Tuesday on charges of trying to sell US president-elect Barack Obama's vacated Senate seat.

Court-appointed wiretaps last month intercepted Blagojevich conspiring to sell the Senate seat that Obama resigned on November 16, according to US Attorney Patrick J Fitzgerald. In return, as recorded in various conversations, he sought a cabinet post, an ambassadorship or a seat on a corporate board for his wife.

Democrat Blagojevich, 51, and his chief of staff John Harris, 46, who were to appear later Tuesday in a federal court in Chicago, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and solicitation of bribery.

"The breadth of corruption laid out in these charges is staggering," Fitzgerald said in a statement.

"They allege that Blagojevich put a 'for sale' sign on the naming of a United States Senator, involved himself personally in pay-to- play schemes with the urgency of a salesman meeting his annual sales target and corruptly used his office in an effort to trample editorial voices of criticism."

They are also accused of sacking members of the Chicago Tribune editorial board who were critical of the governor, according to a Justice Department statement.

Blagojevich is in his second four-year term as Illinois governor, which ends in January 2011. Last month he said he was forming a panel to review candidates to fill Obama's Senate seat. (dpa)