Just a few days after he was found guilty of 16 of 24 corruption charges by in a federal courtroom, it was announced that onetime Democratic political insider Antoin "Tony" Rezko will face his next trial on February 4; this one involves the allegedly fraudulent sale of his pizza restaurants--at one time the outlets were Papa John's restaurants, but after running into trouble with the Louisville-based corporation, Rezko renamed them Papa Tony's in 2004.Free registration may be required for the Chicago Tribune link.
Lemont, Illinois businessman and former top state official Ali D. Ata is a onetime co-defendant of Rezko's in the pizza case. In a shocking move, Ata pleaded to the the federal charges facing him, and his testimony may have been the tipping point for the jurors who found the Rezko guilty a few days ago. The prosecution's other star witness, ex-Republican insider Stuart P. Levine, had credibility problems because of his admitted long-term abuse of drugs and his own criminal past.
Ata came just short of accusing Governor Rod Blagojevich of participating in a "pay to play" scheme, as CBS 2 Chicago reported last month:
Ata said later, after he made a second $25,000 campaign contribution, Blagojevich again brought up the subject of a job and said it should be one in which Ata "could make some money."
Blagojevich has not been charged with wrongdoing and has consistently said he did not do business that way.
Nationally and internationally, Rezko of course is best known for his long-term relationship with Barack Obama. Rezko will certainly be a campaign issue for Obama this fall, but the presumptive Democratic nominee can breathe a sigh of relief that he won't have to compete with with daily Rezko trial coverage as he pushes his "Hope" message to the electorate.
But Tony Rezko will continue to make news, that will be for certain. His upcoming sentencing will be one occasion.
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Chicago mob politics. Convicted on 16 felony charges. Sentence will be 30 days in a half way house with time served deducted. All conviction records to be wiped clean by POTUS Hussein O.
ReplyDeleteFirefigher
On the surface, I light sentence, I have to agree.
ReplyDeleteBut Rezko doesn't like (he's back there again) the underwear at Chicago's Metropolitan Correctional Center.
Barbaric!
http://dailyherald.com/story/?id=138552&src=109