Posted on 10/02/2010 9:39:12 AM PDT by STARWISE
TRIAL NO. 2 | Lawyer says ex-top adviser to gov 'willing and able' to talk -- but 'it's government's call to decide'
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Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a convicted former top adviser of Rod Blagojevich, is ready to testify at the former governor's upcoming federal corruption trial, Rezko's lawyer said Friday.
Rezko is "ready, willing and able to testify" against Blagojevich and his wife, Patti, defense attorney Joe Duffy said after a federal hearing where Rezko pleaded guilty to a new fraud charge.
"It's the government's call to decide" who to use as a witness, Duffy said. But Rezko would be a "formidable witness against both the governor and the first lady," he said.
A new trial for Blagojevich is tentatively scheduled for early next year.
The cornerstone of the government's case against Blagojevich involved allegations he schemed to enrich himself and his wife through selecting a successor for President Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat.
Blagojevich was convicted in August of lying to investigators, but he faces trial on other counts the jury could not agree on. Patti Blagojevich has not been charged, but prosecutors alleged at Blagojevich's first trial that a Rezko business paid her tens of thousands of dollars in sham real estate consulting fees and commissions.
Rezko, 55, of Wilmette, was snagged in "Operation Board Games," the investigation into alleged wrongdoing by Blagojevich.
Rezko, a former fund-raiser for Blagojevich and Obama, was convicted at trial in 2008 of wide-ranging corruption involving state boards and commissions under Blagojevich. On Friday, he pleaded guilty to a loan-fraud scheme involving pizza restaurants he owned.
He has not been sentenced on either conviction. Prosecutors said he should face at least eight years in prison on the restaurant-related conviction.
Rezko appeared before U.S. District Judge James Zagel in an olive jail uniform with his ankles shackled. Courthouse observers said he has lost significant weight since his June 2008 conviction.
Rezko has been in federal custody since his conviction.
Also on Friday, in a separate matter, Zagel granted a request from the father-and-son legal team of Sam Adam Sr. and Sam Adam Jr. to let them off representing Blagojevich at his second trial. Zagel said the lawyers would have to appear for any hearing involving the former governor's first trial but were off the hook for the next one.
.. Chicago Way Ping!
Time for popvorn!
Put plenty of beer or champagne on ice for me...LOL.
Who says he is going to testify AGAINST the Governor?
I saw your other ping about leg irons?
He’s also lost weight....Guess prison food doesn’t agree with him.
It really makes you wonder what is going on behind the scenes. Rezko went underground for awhile, didn’t he? At least during Blago’s first trial.
Now Rahm, another criminal mind, is back in Chicago.
Rezko is the guy that set up the sweetheart land deal for the Obama home/property in Chicago.
“It was Rezko’s first court appearance in months, and he appeared far thinner and more haggard then in the past.
He was brought into the courtoom wearing leg irons, orange sandals, and a prison uniform.
Rezko has been incarcerated since his conviction in June 2008 for influence-peddling in the Operation Board Games investigation.”
Oh, prison food - the new diet rage!
Cute - sounds almost like some of MOOChelle’s fashions.
Super !!! (swiped .. ;)
This, FRiends and neighbors, is what I would suggest is behind Rahm Emanuel's sudden outing of his inner mayor. He's being dispatched to put his sinewy little fingers in the holes that are forming in the dyke holding back the reservoir of truth in Chicago.
None of their sinister dealings and schemes
would be a surprise .. not with the Chicago Thug
Machine.
LOL !!
9-27-10: Citadel Executive Is the New Owner of Rezko’s Former Home
List Price: $3.587 million
Sale Price: $3.701 million
The Property: The 30-room Wilmette mansion where the now-imprisoned political wheeler-dealer Tony Rezko threw fundraisers for Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich is undergoing renovations by its new owners, Dan Johnson, the managing director of Citadel Investment Group, and his wife, Katherine “Katsy” Johnson, an artist.
The couple bought the house from Bank of America last March through a trust that does not identify them in public records. I only learned their names last week. My source asked not to be identified because of personal relationships with the new owners.
*snip*
Price Points:
The Rezkos bought the house in 1999 for $1.9 million. According to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, they took out a $5.15 million mortgage on the property from LaSalle Bank in September 2003. Three years later, LaSalle Bank began foreclosure proceedings; Bank of America inherited the Rezkos’ 2003 mortgage when it acquired LaSalle Bank in 2007.
In August 2009, Intercounty Judicial Sales Corp. held an auction for the house but got no bids. Bank of America then listed the house for sale conventionally in February, with an asking price of $3,587,900. The sale to the Johnsons closed March 22nd.
The fact that the house was sold for more than the bank was asking suggests that there were multiple bids, but Lynn Dahl, one of the listing agents, did not respond to my request for confirmation
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