 Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former Chicago real estate developer and
fast-food entrepreneur, has been in custody for 3 1/2 years while
awaiting sentencing. He was sentenced to a total of 10 1/2 but will
get credit for the time he has served.His attorneys had asked
U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve to set him free, arguing that he
already has served more time than others who were convicted as part
of the federal investigation of Blagojevich have or are expected to.
St. Eve told Rezko his "selfish and corrupt actions" had damaged
the trust people have in their government.
"You defrauded the people of Illinois, you engaged in extensive
corruption throughout the state of Illinois," St. Eve said.
Prosecutors had asked that Rezko receive a prison term of between
11 and 15 years.
Rezko was convicted in 2008 of fraud, money laundering and
plotting to squeeze $7 million in kickbacks from firms that wanted
to do business with the state during Blagojevich's tenure. The
governor was arrested six months later and convicted this year on
charges that included trying to sell or trade an appointment to
President Barack Obama's old Senate seat. He is set to be sentenced
next month and is expected to get about 10 years.
The 56-year-old Rezko also was a political fundraiser for Obama
during his campaigns for Illinois senator, though not for his
presidential campaign. Obama has not been accused of wrongdoing in
the case, but his relationship with Rezko became an issue during the
2008 election.
Rezko's sentencing was delayed after he agreed to cooperate with
prosecutors investigating Blagojevich and others. He also offered to
testify at the corruption trials of Blagojevich and millionaire
businessman William Cellini, who was convicted Nov. 1 of conspiring
with Rezko and others to shake down the Oscar-winning producer of
"Million Dollar Baby."
But the government said he ultimately did not yield any useful
information, and prosecutors said they eventually concluded Rezko's
persistent lies long after he was charged would have made him a
vulnerable, ineffective witness.
The judge agreed with prosecutors.
"It was your own actions which decreased your value as a witness
for the government," St. Eve told him in court on Tuesday.
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In court papers, Rezko's lawyers offered a picture of the Syrian
immigrant as an eager philanthropist who was "shocked" by
Blagojevich's proposed brainstorming on ways to profit from his
gubernatorial decisions.
Prosecutors, though, said Rezko often took the initiative and
described him standing before the then-governor and other confidants
at an office chalkboard, diagramming various scams.
During Rezko's nine-week trial, prosecutors said he raised over
$1 million for Blagojevich and got so much clout in return he could
control two powerful state boards. They accused him of plotting with
admitted political fixer Stuart Levine to squeeze payoffs from money
management firms that sought to invest the assets of the $40 billion
state Teachers’ Retirement System and said he plotted with Levine to
get a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor who sought state approval
to build a hospital.
Levine pleaded guilty and became the government's star witness at
the Rezko and Cellini trials. Rezko's lawyers complained that, in
exchange for Levine's cooperation, prosecutors had recommended a
prison term of just 5 1/2 years. But prosecutors say Levine's
cooperation with the government started sooner, lasted longer and
reaped more dramatic results.
Rezko has spent much of his time in jail in solitary, rarely
getting fresh air and subject to a diet that has resulted in him
losing 80 pounds, according to a recent defense filing.
"Just looking at you, physically, is evidence of the great fall
that you have had," St. Eve said.
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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