A jury found former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich guilty on Tuesday of one count of making a false statement, but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 23 corruption-related charges.

However, a juror later said that the jury was deadlocked 11 to 1 in favour of conviction on the alleged scheme to sell a seat in the U.S. Senate.

He said one female juror "just didn't see what we all saw" and that the counts around the Senate seat were "the most obvious."

Erik Sarnello said other jurors, who had spent 14 days deliberating on the case, tried to persuade the holdout to reconsider but "at a certain point, there was no changing."

Former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich talks to the media at the Federal Court building after a jury found him guilty on one count of making a false statement, but was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 23 corruption-related charges. (Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press)

U.S. prosecutors said the government plans to retry the case, which includes charges of racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud and attempted extortion against Blagojevich.

"This jury shows you that the government threw everything but the kitchen sink at me," said Blagojevich, who vowed to appeal the conviction.

"They could not prove I did anything wrong — except for one nebulous charge from five years ago."

Blagojevich's conviction included the fact he lied to federal agents when he said he did not track campaign contributions and kept a "firewall" between political campaigns and government work. It carries a sentence of up to five years in prison.

Blagojevich, 53, had pleaded not guilty to trying to sell or trade U.S. President Barack Obama's old Senate seat and leverage the power of his office for personal gain. His brother, Robert Blagojevich, 55, a businessman from Nashville, Tenn., has also pleaded not guilty to four corruption-related charges.

During the trial, prosecutors relied heavily on the FBI wiretaps, in which Blagojevich spewed profanity, speculated about getting a federal cabinet job in exchange for the Senate appointment.

Several witnesses also testified that they felt pressured to donate money to Blagojevich's campaign in exchange for favourable state action

But defence attorneys argued that while Blagojevich was a big talker, he never committed a crime.

With files from The Associated Press