Spring Break
Rezko trial set to start in Chicago
Mar. 3, 2008
Jeff Coen - Chicago TribuneIssue date: 2/28/08 Section: MCT News
CHICAGO _ Antoin "Tony" Rezko is set to go on trial Monday, but the defense is expected at every opportunity to try to put his chief accuser on trial as well.
Prosecutors allege that Rezko misused the power he gained from his prowess as a fundraiser for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, scheming to extort kickbacks from firms seeking state business or regulatory approval. But Rezko's lawyers will attack the credibility of Stuart Levine, the government's key witness, questioning his memory of events because of his alleged heavy use of cocaine, crystal meth and other illegal drugs.
"That clearly is the battle line they want to draw," said Zachary Fardon, a former assistant U.S. attorney who was part of the prosecution team that convicted former Gov. George Ryan in 2006. "The defense wants it to be all about Stuart Levine."
Levine, who sat on two influential state boards, pleaded guilty to scheming with Rezko to extort almost $6 million from investment firms seeking to invest state pension funds and a hospital seeking approval of expansion plans.
With all the pretrial posturing at end, the lawyers on both sides of the case will soon put on display their competing strategies. Even in such a complex case, Rezko's fate could come down to what the jury thinks of Levine, the defense hopes.
The defense is expected to make much of the fact that Rezko appears on the fringe of the alleged fixes, dealing mostly with only Levine. And while federal investigators secretly tape-recorded hundreds of Levine's telephone conversations, only a handful involved Rezko, and those were innocuous, the defense will argue.
The challenge facing the government can be illustrated by a key meeting between the two at the Standard Club in Chicago in April 2004. Levine has told prosecutors that at the meeting he displayed a chart to Rezko to show how many millions of dollars the two would split in the scheme. But no one else is believed to have attended the meeting, and it came well before Levine began to cooperate. However, Levine later spoke of the meeting to other co-schemers who could testify.
Prosecutors allege that Rezko misused the power he gained from his prowess as a fundraiser for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, scheming to extort kickbacks from firms seeking state business or regulatory approval. But Rezko's lawyers will attack the credibility of Stuart Levine, the government's key witness, questioning his memory of events because of his alleged heavy use of cocaine, crystal meth and other illegal drugs.
"That clearly is the battle line they want to draw," said Zachary Fardon, a former assistant U.S. attorney who was part of the prosecution team that convicted former Gov. George Ryan in 2006. "The defense wants it to be all about Stuart Levine."
Levine, who sat on two influential state boards, pleaded guilty to scheming with Rezko to extort almost $6 million from investment firms seeking to invest state pension funds and a hospital seeking approval of expansion plans.
With all the pretrial posturing at end, the lawyers on both sides of the case will soon put on display their competing strategies. Even in such a complex case, Rezko's fate could come down to what the jury thinks of Levine, the defense hopes.
The defense is expected to make much of the fact that Rezko appears on the fringe of the alleged fixes, dealing mostly with only Levine. And while federal investigators secretly tape-recorded hundreds of Levine's telephone conversations, only a handful involved Rezko, and those were innocuous, the defense will argue.
The challenge facing the government can be illustrated by a key meeting between the two at the Standard Club in Chicago in April 2004. Levine has told prosecutors that at the meeting he displayed a chart to Rezko to show how many millions of dollars the two would split in the scheme. But no one else is believed to have attended the meeting, and it came well before Levine began to cooperate. However, Levine later spoke of the meeting to other co-schemers who could testify.
Be the first to comment on this story