Posted on 06/07/2008 7:42:52 AM PDT by Libloather
Rezko faces next trial: Date set in pizza case
Tribune staff report
10:41 PM CDT, June 6, 2008
Just days after Antoin "Tony" Rezko's fraud trial ended with a conviction on most counts, the political insider learned Friday he will go to trial next year on his other pending criminal case.
U.S. District Judge James Zagel set Feb. 4 for Rezko to stand trial on wire fraud charges stemming from accusations that he used false information to obtain loans in the fraudulent sale of his pizza businesses. Rezko is to stand trial with Abdelhamid Chaib, a businessman who worked for him.
Prosecutors have alleged Rezko sold the businesses at an inflated price to a straw buyer while secretly keeping ownership. Rezko has pleaded not guilty, but that could change if he seeks a sentence to run concurrently with his conviction for corrupting a pair of state boards.
Defense attorney William Ziegelmueller told Zagel that Rezko's legal team still needs to discuss options in the pizza case with Rezko.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
LAS VEGAS (AP) - A prominent political fundraiser on trial in a corruption case in Chicago is wanted in Nevada on allegations that he rang up more than $803,000 in Las Vegas Strip casino debts, according to court documents.
Antoin ‘‘Tony'' Rezko, who was awaiting a jury decision Thursday at his fraud trial in Chicago, is sought on a felony arrest warrant issued May 20 alleging he failed to repay 10 casino loans totaling $472,275 and dating to mid-2006 at Caesars Palace and Bally's, Clark County court spokesman Michael Sommermeyer said.
Rezko, of Wilmette, Ill., also is named in a separate civil lawsuit alleging he owes $331,000 plus interest to the Bellagio for loans he received in February 2006.
Rezko is a real estate developer and fast-food entrepreneur who has raised thousands of dollars for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
He is charged in Chicago with using his clout with Blagojevich's administration to get a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor and to pressure kickbacks out of money management firms wanting to do business with a $40 billion state pension fund.
He has pleaded not guilty.
Joseph J. Duffy, a lawyer for the 52-year-old Rezko, declined comment on the Las Vegas cases.
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2008/05/31/news/nation/nation5.txt
Obama says “that’s not the Tony Rezko I knew.”
Well actually, he’s getting off easy. 50 years ago, failing to repay 10 casino loans would have had him not under arrest, but under several feet of desert sand;)
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