Even before her voice was heard on covert recordings made by federal investigators, First Lady Patricia Blagojevich was neck-deep in the federal probe of her husband and his administration.

Once a residential real estate broker on the North Side, Patricia Blagojevich left that career this year amid scrutiny from the Tribune and federal agents who have for a year been examining whether clients hired her to win favor from her husband's administration.

But her decision to change careers didn't seem to slow the investigation, which sped up in recent weeks after federal agents tapped the Blagojevich's phones and caught the first lady joining her husband on calls in which he talked about how his authority to pick President-elect Barack Obama's replacement in the U.S. Senate could be leveraged to help find her a seat on paid corporate boards.

Before that, though, federal agents—following years of news coverage—were probing hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions Patricia Blagojevich earned in previous years as a real estate broker for political supporters, fundraisers and state contractors.

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