Tag: Tony Rezko

The judge in the Tony Rezko trial has released a two page letter Rezko wrote her while seeking to have his bail reinstated in April. In it, he defends Sen. Barack Obama, saying the Government was overzealous in its pursuit of "a crime that never happened" and sought information from him about Obama but he had none to give. The actual letter is here.

Two months before he was convicted of federal corruption charges, political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko told his trial judge that "overzealous" prosecutors were pressuring him to tell them about any wrongdoing involving Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama or Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

But in a two-page typed letter, Rezko said he was never involved in any wrongdoing with either of the Democrats and wouldn't make up stories about them in an attempt to benefit himself.

[More...]

Bump and Update: My long thoughts on the relevance of Rezko's conviction are below:

Earlier: Guilty on 16 of 24 counts.

Here's the blank verdict form (pdf)listing the counts.

The Rezko verdict will be announced in five minutes.

Bump and Update: Today should be the day for a verdict in the Tony Rezko trial. There seems to be some consensus among trial watchers that count 16, the attempted extortion count, is the one the jury did not agree on. We'll see if a good night's sleep and a dynamite charge from the judge made a difference. Or, if they decided last night and the judge just held the verdict until this morning.

Bump and Update: The jury went home without announcing a verdict and will return in the morning. It may be they reached one but due to the late hour, the judge is holding it until the morning. That's not uncommon in high profile cases.

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The jury deliberating the fate of Tony Rezko sent the judge a note today saying it cannot agree on 1 of the 24 counts against him. I guess that means they've decided on the other 23 counts. The judge told them to keep deliberating. [More...]

Whatever the jury decides in the Chicago trial of Tony Rezko, his problems aren't over. A Nevada judge has issued a felony arrest warrant for him as a result of his alleged failure to pay gambling debts.

Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who is standing trial on federal corruption charges in Chicago, is wanted in Las Vegas for failing to pay $472,275 in gambling debts to Caesars Palace and Bally’s and related processing fees to the Clark County district attorney’s office.

The total unpaid Strip bill comes to more than $800,000, however, because the Bellagio obtained a judgment of default against Rezko a year ago for not repaying $331,000 in gambling markers.

More...

The Supreme Court today refused to consider the appeal of former Illinois Governor George Ryan, who is serving a 6 1/2 year sentence on corruption charges.

In other Chicago corruption trial news, the Tony Rezko jury is still deliberationg. They've been meeting part-time over the past 14 days, putting in only 6 days of deliberations. But they must know they're slacking off. Today's reason for cutting out early after four days off was that a juror had a job interview to go to. In a note, the jury wrote:

the jury told the judge in the second part of its note that it will be working until 5:50 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. The longer hours were "to help conclude our decision," the jury note said.

Friday is a no-deliberate day as one has child care problems that day. [More...]

Bump and Update: Rezko's lawyer reminded the jury in closing arguments that Rezko was a fundraiser for Barack Obama.

Before the trial ended for the day, Duffy sought to draw a difference between politics, Rezko's fundraising activities and the allegations in the case.

"Politics is different from criminal activity," said Duffy, reminding the jury that Rezko had been involved in fundraising for President Bush and Barack Obama as well.

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Closing Arguments Underway in Rezko Trial

The Government is in the midst of what it said will be a 3 to 4 hour closing argument in the corruption trial of Tony Rezko. The Chicago Tribune is live-blogging. The Chicago Sun Times lists the ten key moments in the trial. [More...]

The testimony in the trial on Tony Rezko has ended. The defense did not call any witnesses. The prosecution's case lasted 9 weeks. Closing arguments are next week.

"We do not believe the government has met [its] burden proving the charges against Mr. Rezko, plain and simple," Rezko's attorney, Joseph Duffy, said in explaining his tactical decision not to mount a defense case.

Probably a smart move. It's also a typical one, so it shouldn't be viewed as them not having a defense. It's a statement there was no need to put on a defense since the prosecution didn't prove its case.

The Judge has taken under advisement several motions for judgment of acquittal. The charges are multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, attempted extortion, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering.

The trial of Tony Rezko is wrapping up. The Chicago Tribune reports the Government is expected to rest Monday.

The Tribune says the evidence against Rezko has been largely circumstantial and without a smoking gun to support the allegations of its cooperating star witness, the self-admitted drug-abuser and fixer Stuart Levine, who sang for his supper for weeks on the stand.

Jurors will have to pull together a variety of moving pieces if they are to agree on Rezko's guilt. There is no smoking gun evidence, no clear money trail of kickbacks into Rezko's pocket and no wiretap that indisputably captured Rezko in the act of scheming. Instead, jurors were taken on a disturbing ride through the dark underbelly of Illinois government.

To fix this, the Government this week called on Ali Ata, who had pleaded guilty days earlier and could use the sentencing break the government was offering for his Rezko testimony (8 years down to one.) The Tribune says Ata was called to support Levine's accounts rather than to provide a smoking gun against Rezko. [More...]

Over objections by lawyers for Tony Rezko, Ali Ata testified today at Rezko's criminal trial. (Background on Ata, who pleaded guilty last week here.)

Ata testified Rezko told him "a plan was in place" to remove Patrick Fitzgerald as U.S. Attorney.

Mr. Rezko informed me that they had just finished meeting with Mr. [Robert] Kjellander and that there will be a change in U.S. attorney's office come the new administration," Ata said. And how would there be a change?

"Mr. Kjellander will talk to Karl Rove and make a change in the U.S. attorney's office," Ata said. He knew from Rezko that Kjellander was a GOP operative and had a direct relationship with Rove, at the time a top adviser to President Bush. Kjellander is Illinois' Republican national committeeman. Both he and Rove have denied the allegations.

Ata is singing for his supper. He's expecting a sentence of one year instead of eight for his testimony against Rezko.

Here's an assortment of the latest Rezko trial news.

A former associate of Tony Rezko's testified at his trial today that Rezko told him U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald would be replaced and the investigation into his conduct would end.

Elie Maloof just testified that when he received a grand jury subpoena, Rezko told him not to talk to the feds. Why? "The federal prosecutor will no longer be the same federal prosecutor," Maloof just testified that Rezko told him. What did Rezko mean prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asked? "That Patrick Fitzgerald would be terminated and Dennis Hastert will name his replacement. The investigation will be over."

Maloof, who once helped run some of Rezko's fast-food businesses, said Rezko told him of Fitzgerald's replacement: "That they will order the prosecutor to stop the investigation."
It is the first time jurors heard an accusation that Rezko worked behind the scenes to oust Fitzgerald.

The Sun Times also reports that the Judge and lawyers have been working hard to keep Barack Obama's name from surfacing in the trial.

Maloof left the stand without ever invoking Barack Obama's name, despite previous allegations by prosecutors that he made a straw donation for Rezko to Obama's Senatorial campaign fund. It is clear that lawyers -- and the judge -- have been careful not to bring Obama's name into case, even outside the presence of the jury.

Maloof is testifying under a grant of immunity. More on that here.

Bump and Update: There is joy in the Tony Rezko household tonight. The Judge ordered him released on bail, with a condition of home confinement.

*****

Tony Rezko's friends and family have put together $8 million for his bail. The Judge has said she will rule today on whether she will grant him bail with a condition of home confinement.

Bump and Update: The Chicago Sun Times now has the testimony and more details, including that Michelle Obama was at the party and the date:

When Tony Rezko held a reception at his home for Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi on April 3, 2004, White House hopeful Barack Obama and his wife were also there, Stuart Levine testified just now at Rezko's trial.

Auchi is the man who provided Rezko a $3.5 million loan that Rezko did not disclose to the court -- resulting in his January arrest. "Mr. and Mrs. Obama were there, were they not?" Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy asked. "Yes, sir," Levine said. Obama and his aides have said Obama has no recollection of ever meeting Auchi.

Here's the Sun-Times article about Obama meeting Auchi at the Four Seasons, which I reference below.

Original Post:

There was a surprise at the Tony Rezko trial today. The Government's star cooperating witness, Stuart Levine, said Barack Obama was at a party for Iraqi-born billionaire Nadhmi Auchi at Rezko's house. [More...]

Tony Rezko's lawyer Joe Duffy seems to be off to a great start in cross-examining the Government's star witness, Stuart Levine, according to the Chicago Tribune live-blog.

Read through the whole day's events. Most of it addressed Levine's copious drug use and poor memory.

Levine has been on the stand for more than a week testifying for the Government, detailing his life of crime and bringing Tony Rezko and other former Levine associates into it whenever he could.

After all, he's singing for his supper. And so long as he stays on tune, even if Rezko is acquitted, Levine gets one heck of a deal: Check out his plea agreement (pdf). It might be the longest one I've ever seen, 58 pages, particularly as to the factual recitation of the crimes Levine admits, but more significant are the numbers. Levine's guideline range before his snitch bonus is a level 43, category I, or mandatory life in prison, no parole -- there is no parole in the federal system. On a life sentence, the only way you come out is in a pine box.

The plea agreement provides for a Rule 11[c][1][c] agreed-upon sentence of 67 months. (See paragraph 22 on page 53.) Should the judge not agree and want to give him more, he gets to take his plea back.

From life in prison to 67 months, and all he has to do is tell the truth -- the Government's truth -- that Rezko was a crook too.

Levine sounds like a disgusting, pathetic, broken man. The Government, in propping him up to bring down Rezko, is stooping to his morally bankrupt level.

The Government's star witness, Stuart Levine, took the stand Monday in the corruption trial of Tony Rezko. He's a defense dream for a witness.

Levine was charged with corruption along with Rezko but pleaded guilty and agreed to testify. Technically, Levine could be sentenced to life in prison, but he said he hoped prison time would be limited to about 51/2 years in return for his cooperation with the government.

Levine dressed for and sounded the part assigned to him by the Government:

He displayed the demeanor of a practiced public speaker and lawyer and hardly the picture of a strung-out drug abuser that Rezko's attorneys hope will damage his credibility.

What about that drug use? [More...]

In addition to being interviewed by the Chicago Tribune this week about Tony Rezko, Barack Obama also sat down for an interview with the Chicago Sun Times. More statements by Obama from the Sun Times interview:

Is Rezko still a friend?

"Yes,'' Obama said, "with the caveat if it turns out the allegations are true, then he's not who I thought he was, and I'd be very disappointed with that.''

And it's that friendship, Obama said, that probably kept him from realizing it was a mistake to enter into a real estate deal with Rezko.

"Probably because I'd known him for a long time, and he'd acted in an aboveboard manner with me," he said. "And I considered him a friend. ... It's further evidence that I'm not perfect.''

Chicago Tribune columnist John Kaas writes today about Obama's latest statements, "It's almost believable. As in, almost, but not quite.

The audio of the 80 minute Sun Times interview is here. The transcript is here (pdf).