10 key developments in case of gov's indicted fund-raiser
With closing arguments set for Monday, here's a highlight reel:
1. LEVINE BOMBSHELL TESTIMONY
Stuart Levine dropped one bombshell after another during prosecution questioning, leveling allegations about Gov. Blagojevich, Ald. Dick Mell, GOP power broker William Cellini, Blagojevich fund-raiser Chris Kelly and former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, among others. Levine testified:
• • Rezko backed an $81 million plan for a new hospital in Crystal Lake only after Levine propositioned him to split a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor. "You bet," Rezko allegedly said after Levine's offer.
• • "You stick with us, you'll do very well for yourself," Levine said the governor told him on a flight aboard a private jet from New York. Levine said he took it to mean he could make money under Blagojevich.
• • Rezko agreed to be paid $3.5 million in kickbacks after meeting privately with Levine at the Standard Club, a short walk from the federal courthouse. Levine showed him a chart showing how the alleged largess could be split.
• • All major decisions in the governor's office were cleared through Rezko.
2. JOE DUFFY'S CRITICAL CROSS
Stuart Levine's bombshells fizzled a bit as Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy exploited Levine's faults, including wild drug binges at the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood, a bad memory and stealing from charities. Levine's misdeeds at times seemed much worse than Rezko's. Consider this exchange about Levine stealing from a late relative's estate:
"The man who was generous to you for 25 years, you stole from his children, didn't you, Mr. Levine?" Duffy asked.
"Yes, sir," Levine replied.
Duffy hammered at Levine's memory problems and tried to poke holes in Levine's versions of events, at one point asking, "Mr. Levine, do you have telepathic powers?"
3. CASH IN POCKET
Ali Ata, the last-minute witness who acted as the government's closer, said he paid Rezko $125,000 in cash bribes. The money paid off a debt for Kelly and $25,000 for an impending lien on the governor's home, he said. Ata told jurors Rezko helped him land his job as the head of the Illinois Finance Authority.
Ata's testimony showed Rezko needed money, and that Rezko wielded vast influence with the governor's office.
Duffy asked Ata for proof of the cash bribes he paid to Rezko. Ata only offered his word.
"Sir, you are a convicted liar, are you not?" Duffy asked. Ata quietly replied, "Yes."
4. DIRECT CONNECT
Semir Sirazi, a 10-year Rezko pal, testified Rezko paid a $66,000 debt to Sirazi through the same company that allegedly funneled kickbacks for Rezko. Rezko wired the money to Sirazi after several Rezko checks bounced. The wire came from JAA Enterprises, which is operated by Joseph Aramanda. Earlier, witness Sheldon Pekin said he diverted a $250,000 kickback to JAA after Pekin's firm, Glencoe Capital, won a $50 million investment from the state teacher's pension board.
5. CHUCK HANNON
The retired Winnetka businessman and longtime Rezko family friend testified about Rezko's direct involvement in a $750,000 kickback scheme. Rezko, who owed Hannon and his wife $7 million at one point, set up a scheme where Hannon would pocket $80,000, Hannon said. The money would come from a sham consulting contract paid by a firm seeking state work. Hannon would do no work for the contract, Rezko allegedly told him.
Downgrading Hannon's testimony was that, ultimately, the firm refused to pay Hannon and still was allowed to do business with the state. Hannon also admitted he once saw a neurologist, had some memory problems and had taken a drug used by Alzheimer's patients.
6. FIRING FITZ
Rezko associate Elie Maloof said Rezko told him not to talk to the feds when Maloof received a subpoena. Maloof said Rezko told him: "The federal prosecutor will no longer be the same federal prosecutor . . . Patrick Fitzgerald would be terminated and Dennis Hastert will name his replacement. The investigation will be over." Ata backed up Maloof, also saying Rezko told him about a plot to unseat Fitzgerald.
What Maloof didn't testify about were allegations that Maloof was a straw donor to Barack Obama's 2004 U.S. Senate campaign at Rezko's urging. Obama has since donated the Maloof money to charity.
7. HOLLYWOOD MOMENT
Movie producer Tom Rosenberg vowed to "take them down" after learning of a plot to extort him for $1.5 million in exchange for his firm, Capri Capital, winning a lucrative state pension deal. "They made the consequences clear. They stopped the allocation from going through," Rosenberg said of his deal stalling because he didn't ante up to the governor's administration. But Rosenberg said he never had discussions with Rezko and says there were never any direct demands that he cough up a campaign contribution.
8. REZKO HEARD ON TAPE
He isn't heard often on tape. But in one recording, Rezko and Levine discuss the Illinois health planning board on which Levine sat. Rezko tells Levine to continue doing things the same way they had been doing them in previous months. "You and I will still do what we need to do," Rezko says.
9. TONY'S 'MARCHING ORDERS'
In a recorded call, health board Chairman Thomas Beck can be heard telling Levine: "I got the marching orders . . . Our boy wants to help them." Various board members said Beck passed out an index card telling them how Rezko wanted them to vote on the $81 million Crystal Lake hospital plan.
10. THE 'BIG GUY' KNEW
Levine said Gov. Blagojevich knew about the plot to shake down Rosenberg for a campaign contribution. Levine said it was Rezko who told him of a conversation with the governor concerning Rosenberg. Cellini could be heard over a recording telling Levine that Rosenberg was incensed over being shaken down. The call and a subsequent recorded call from fund-raiser Chris Kelly bolsters Levine's contention that Kelly, Rezko, Cellini and Levine schemed to finesse Rosenberg.
Levine said Gov. Blagojevich knew about the plot to shake down Rosenberg for a campaign contribution. Levine said it was Rezko who told him of a conversation with the governor concerning Rosenberg. Cellini could be heard over a recording telling Levine that Rosenberg was incensed over being shaken down. The call and a subsequent recorded call from fund-raiser Chris Kelly bolsters Levine's contention that Kelly, Rezko, Cellini and Levine schemed to finesse Rosenberg.
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