Rezko sentencing date January 6

This announcement is a bit of a surprise. After being postponed twice, a new, and presumably final sentencing date has been set for convicted political fixer Antoin "Tony" Rezko, President-elect Barack Obama's first political sponsor and longtime friend.

Rezko will walk up to the bench of Judge Doom on January 6--two weeks before Inauguration Day.

Since this summer, Rezko has been telling prosecutors what he knows about corruption in Illinois. Yes, it takes that long. This is Illinois.

Has Rezko spilled every bean?

But this morning Rezko's lawyer Joseph Duffy said: "He wants to move on with his life. No one likes living at the MCC."

Rezko is being housed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in a downtown lockup in solitary confinement.

Duffy would not comment on the status of talks with the government. He said defense lawyers and prosecutors have had meetings concerning what kind of sentence Rezko should face.

Last week, the Chicago Sun-Times' Eye on Rezko blog reported "hangups" regarding the swindler's meetings with prosecutors.

Rezko faces one more trial. It involves the allegedly fraudulent sale of his Papa Tony's pizza restaurants.

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