Category Archives: FBI

Daniel Frawley sentencing, November 21, 2011, 10:30 AM, Judge Ronald Guzman, Courtroom 1219 (RAG), Rezko payments to Obama

Daniel Frawley sentencing, November 21, 2011, 10:30 AM, Judge Ronald Guzman, Courtroom 1219 (RAG), Rezko payments to Obama

Daniel Frawley, former business partner of Tony Rezko is scheduled for sentencing November 21, 2011 in the courtroom of Judge Ronald Guzman.

Daily Calendar

 
Monday, November 21, 2011  (As of 11/14/11 at 12:48:31 PM 
 
Honorable Ronald A. Guzman                  Courtroom 1219 (RAG)
 
1:11-cr-00056   USA v. Frawley                         10:30   Sentencing
 
 

From commenter Bessie earlier today:

“Message body
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-08-22/news/0708210973_1_iraqi-officials-prime-minister-ayad-allawi-al-radhi

In addition to this time line important points mull over:
Frawley was picked up in March of 2006 and started acting as an informant for the feds immediately. During this time he was wired, recording conversations and according to the court file of Frawley vs. Weaver it sounds as if Frawley was acting independent of the feds recording for his own personal use. While he was working under instruction for the DOJ, Frawley actively sought to reactivate his security contract with the Iraqi government, having met with Senator Obama staffer Seamus Ahern numerous times, exchanging emails, phone calls and faxes.

(It is important to note that in an interview with local press in 2008, then Presidential candidate Obama made the ridiculous claim that, he didn’t know Daniel T. Frawely was Tony Rezko’s partner. The creditless Frawley couldn’t get an appointment with anyone let alone an Illinois Senator.)

It was later that year October of 2006 that Tony Rezko was indicted. Another partner in the Companion Security deal Aiham Alsammarae ex-Minister of Electricity for Iraq had escaped the Green Zone in Iraq in December of 2006. Alsammarae was convicted in Iraq for stealing $650 million U.S. and Iraq dollars, he was sentenced in absentia of 21 years. This entire time D.T. Frawley was acting as a covert informant recording conversations…Unearthed in Frawley vs. Weaver it would appear that he wasn’t completely forth coming with the DOJ, what he kept to himself and what he reported to the feds has yet to be revealed BECAUSE the feds NEVER brought charges against anyone involved in the Companion Seucrity scam…

(Frawley has 2 Facebook profiles, one Daniel Frawley, one Dan Frawley…”Dan” Frawley’s profile claims he is owner operator of Companion Security and is a fan of Aiham Alsammarae who also has a Facebook profile.)

WHY did the DOJ and the press drop the ball on this? Is stealing $650 million dollars from the U.S. war effort not enough incentive? Imagine for a moment if these unvetted convicted felons succeeded in bringing the 150 Iraqi militants here to Illinois to train to use Ak-47′s and other assault weapons? Being trained by Daniel T. Frawley who has no military experience, no college and was fired from the Chicago Police Dept. after 7 months for being an extreme racist back in 1977. (Do you know how extreme you have to be to get fired from the CPD in ’77 for being racist?)

WE now know that Bernard Barton/John Thomas was acting as an informant as of 2003 within the Rezko circle along with Dan Mahru, Stuart Levine and Daniel T. Frawley…It is doubtful they knew about each other. The feds compare notes and work out who’s telling the truth, who’s holding back and who’s lying.

WHY should we care? WHAT’s the big deal? The feds caught these guy’s before any harm was done??????
IN Frawley vs. Weaver they (Weavers lawyer) inferred that this lawsuit started out as a blackmail attempt by Frawley and when Weaver did not comply to his demands Frawley filed the lawsuit. THE potential for Frawley to blackmail the President is staggering, he has the information, the experience and nothing to lose.

7 day’s to Rezko sentencing8 day’s to Frawely sentencing”

From the Daniel Frawley deposition.

Konicek: “In March 13, 2006, you had a conversation with Mr. Weaver where you say he instructed me not to cooperate.”

Frawley: “Yes, I had a conversation with Mr. Weaver where he instructed me not to cooperate.”
Frawley: “I was on the phone, making a phone call to Tony Rezko. I had a luncheon engagement with him.”

“George was outside of the room where I was making the telephone call, and the purpose of the call was for me to keep my luncheon engagement with Tony Rezko and to go over and to record Tony Rezko.”

“George saw and heard me on the phone, came running in and went like this [demonstrating]: Cut it,”

Franklin: “For the record, the deponent is crossing his hands across his throat.”

Konicek: “And Tony Rezko was where when you were speaking to him?”

Frawley: “He was on the other end of the phone. I don’t recall where he was.”
Konicek: “I’m assuming the information is about the payments made by Rezko to Obama, so we know we’re talking about the right conversation, right?”

Konicek: “Am I correct it was about Obama being paid by Rezko?”

Frawley: “I’m not answering that question, based upon my attorney’s instructions.”

Konicek: “But on March 13, 2006, you’ve already indentified for me being at 219 South Dearborn. You’re talking to Tony rezko on the phone, and Mr. Weaver makes this gesture to you, right?”

Frawley: “Mr. Weaver made the gesture and told me to get off the phone, to end the phone call.”
Konicek: “Okay. And then where were you instructed not to cooperate?”

Frawley: “In the same building, at 219 South Dearborn….in a different room.”
Konicek: “Did you bring to Mr. Weaver in Hinsdale a statement showing payment to Tony Rezko in the amount of $ 1.5 million?”
Konicek: “Are you going to answer?”

Frawley: “No.”

Konicek: “Are you asserting your Fifth Amendment privilege?”

Frawley: “Yes.””

 

Blagojevich prosecution delayed, US Justice Department Patrick Fitzgerald conspiracy, Tony Rezko fall guy, Rezko attorneys contact me

Blagojevich prosecution delayed, US Justice Department Patrick Fitzgerald conspiracy, Tony Rezko fall guy, Rezko attorneys contact me

“The citizens of Illinois deserve public officials who act solely in the public’s interest, without putting a price tag on government appointments, contracts and decisions.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

“I was not going to wait until March or April or May to get it all nice and tidy”  “I think that would be irresponsible.””…Patrick Fitzgerald

“Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

“I just think it’s very, very disturbing that we have these pay-to-play allegations going on for years.”…Patrick Fitzgerald

Tony Rezko, Rod Blagojevich and other Chicago corruption figures are scheduled for sentencing in a few days. The US Justice Department knew about corruption in the administration of Governor Blagojevich by at least the latter part of 2003. Here is what we know from US Justice Department and court records and media reports.

2002

From the Blagojevich arrest press release.

Pay-to-Play Schemes

“The charges include historical allegations that Blagojevich and Harris schemed with others – including previously convicted defendants Antoin Rezko, Stuart Levine, Ali Ata and others – since becoming governor in 2002 to obtain and attempt to obtain financial benefits for himself, his family and third parties, including his campaign committee, Friends of Blagojevich, in exchange for appointments to state boards and commissions, state employment, state contracts and access to state funds.”

2003

From the Washington Post December 22, 2008.

The wide-ranging public corruption probe that led to the arrest of Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich got its first big break when a grandmother of six walked into a breakfast meeting with shakedown artists wearing an FBI wire.
Pamela Meyer Davis had been trying to win approval from a state health planning board for an expansion of Edward Hospital, the facility she runs in a Chicago suburb, but she realized that the only way to prevail was to retain a politically connected construction company and a specific investment house. Instead of succumbing to those demands, she went to the FBI and U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald in late 2003 and agreed to secretly record conversations about the project.

Her tapes led investigators down a twisted path of corruption that over five years has ensnared a collection of behind-the-scenes figures in Illinois government, including Joseph Cari Jr., a former Democratic National Committee member, and disgraced businessman Antoin “Tony” Rezko.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/21/AR2008122102334.html?wpisrc=newsletter

2004

  • March – May 2004: FBI chart presented to the Rezko Trial jury on April 28, 2008, shows 257 calls from Rezko’s phones to Blagojevich’s chief of staff, Lon Monk, between March 2004 and May 2004
  • June 7, 2004: Stuart Levine, a longtime Republican reappointed to the powerful Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, abruptly resigns on the eve of several important hospital expansion votes. The revelation is the first indication that the Blagojevich administration is under federal criminal investigation.
  • June 27, 2004: The Chicago Tribune discloses that an official for one hospital seeking permission to expand was wearing a federal bug during meetings in an effort to expose extortion attempts by Levine and others for contributions to Blagojevich.
  • July 2, 2004: Levine resigns from his seat on the board of the state Teachers’ Retirement System. It remains undisclosed that federal authorities had secretly taped Levine’s conversations.

Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich indicted in 2005?

  • May 9, 2005: Levine is indicted on corruption charges. Federal subpoenas are issued to numerous administration sources, including top Blagojevich fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko.
  • May 20, 2005: The governor’s office acknowledges to the Tribune that Rezko has an ongoing eight-year professional relationship with Patricia Blagojevich’s home-based real estate brokerage, River Realty Inc.
  • September 15, 2005: Prominent Democratic fundraiser Joseph Cari and a former lawyer for the state’s teacher’s pension board pleads guilty in an extortion scheme that steered state pension business to favored companies in exchange for campaign contributions to a high-ranking public official described in court documents only as “Public official A.”
  • October 25, 2005: The Tribune discloses a federal grand jury investigation into the alleged political hiring practices of the Blagojevich administration, including the governor’s top hiring aide, Joseph Cini.

Or

2006

  • August 5, 2006: The Chicago Tribune reports that Stuart Levine is cooperating with the federal investigation of state government.
  • October 11, 2006: Stuart Levine pleads guilty. Levine is cooperating with the government. Patrick Fitzgerald: “This indictment describes a frenzy of corrupt scheming, particularly in April and May 2004, in which political insiders sought to manipulate the activities of two state boards to fleece investment firms and individuals. The defendants and their associates put the word out loud and clear: you have to pay to play in Illinois.”  http://www.justice.gov/usao/iln/pr/chicago/2006/pr1011_01.pdf

Or

2007

  • January 16, 2007:”Judicial Watch filed an open records lawsuit against the office of Governor Rod Blagojevich (D-IL), who is under federal investigation on several fronts, including corrupt hiring practices. Judicial Watch’s lawsuit, filed on January 16, 2007 in the Cook County, Illinois Circuit Court, specifically seeks, among other documents, any and all grand jury subpoenas received by the Governor’s office or any state agencies under the Governor’s control. The subpoenas reportedly were issued by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald’s office.Governor Blagojevich’s office refuses to release the subpoenas, claiming they are exempt from public disclosure. In a letter to Judicial Watch dated December 7, 2006, Allison Benway, Legal Counsel for Governor Blagojevich stated, “This Office cannot confirm or deny the existence of the documents requested, and even if this Office were to have documents responsive to your request, such documents would be exempt from release…””  http://www.judicialwatch.org/blagojevich
  •  March 9, 2007: Anita Mahajan, with business ties to Patti Blagojevich, received six felony charges.
  • December 13, 2007: Blagojevich fundraiser Christopher Kelly is indicted on federal tax evasion charges.

Or prosecuted in spring of 2008 instead of Tony Rezko.

Rod Blagojevich was governor of Illinois and had been monitored since late 2003. Tony Rezko was a businessman and never called as a witness.

Despite the doubletalk coming from Patrick Fitzgerald about protecting the citizens of Illinois, Blagojevich was arrested after the 2008 election in December.

Patrick Fitzgerald’s own words are damning.

“I was not going to wait until March or April or May to get it all nice and tidy”  “I think that would be irresponsible.””

“Governor Blagojevich has been arrested in the middle of what we can only describe as a political corruption crime spree. We acted to stop that crime spree.”.

“I just think it’s very, very disturbing that we have these pay-to-play allegations going on for years.”

And perhaps one more.

“We make no allegations that Obama was aware of any alleged scheming by Blagojevich.”

Rezko attorneys, contact me.

Cellini trial juror two felony convictions?, May overturn verdict, Woman juror with crack cocaine conviction

Cellini trial juror two felony convictions?, May overturn verdict, Woman juror with crack cocaine conviction

From the Chicago Tribune November 11, 2011.

“Juror in Cellini trial appears to have hidden two felony convictions, Tribune finds”

“Court officials acknowledged Thursday that information revealed by the Tribune appears to show that a member of the federal jury that convicted Springfield power broker William Cellini concealed two felony convictions.

Attorneys for Cellini said the information may be used in seeking to overturn last week’s verdict.

Cook County court records show that a woman with the same name, age and address as the juror pleaded guilty to a felony charge of crack-cocaine possession in February 2000 and was sentenced to 1 1/2 years of probation. In August 2008, she pleaded guilty to aggravated driving under the influence without a driver’s license, also a felony, and was sentenced to probation and time served — 44 days in jail, according to the records.

The juror never disclosed she had a conviction on a questionnaire filled out by jurors or under questioning by the judge in the courtroom during jury selection early last month, court officials acknowledged Thursday night after the Tribune came forward with the information.

Federal law generally disqualifies convicted felons from serving on juries.

At her South Side apartment Thursday morning, the female juror invited a Tribune reporter into the building lobby, confirmed she was a juror in the Cellini trial but then declined to answer questions about a criminal background.

The Tribune’s disclosures shocked Cellini’s lawyers. Dan Webb, one of his attorneys, said he could seek to overturn the conviction based on her taking part in the verdict.

“I consider this very important information that I was not aware of,” Webb said. “I don’t know the facts here, but based on what the Tribune has reported to me, we are looking into the matter to determine if we have a basis to file a motion for a mistrial because a juror may have been allowed to serve on this jury who was legally disqualified from jury service.”

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Chicago, declined to comment on the development.

The jury deliberated a little more than two days before convicting Cellini, 77, a key behind-the-scenes player in state government and politics for four decades, on Nov. 1 in the extortion attempt of a Hollywood producer. The charges grew out of the federal probe that snared former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and several of his top advisers.”

“In the narcotics case, the woman was arrested by Chicago police in possession of a plastic bag with 10 rocks of crack cocaine, less than a gram, according to court records.

In July 2008, she was stopped by Chicago police while driving through a sobriety checkpoint on the South Side. Police reported that she had bloodshot, glassy eyes and smelled of alcohol.

She told police she’d been at a party and had some liquor but “felt fine,” according to a police report, but she failed field sobriety tests and recorded a 0.122 percent on a Breathalyzer at the station, well above the legal limit of 0.08, according to court records. When police checked her record, they discovered she had never had a valid driver’s license.

That woman satisfactorily completed the probation sentence in September 2010, the records show.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cellini-jury-20111111,0,7632249,full.story

If there is a retrial, does this mean that Stuart Levine will not be used as a witness due to his long time drug abuse?

And be replaced by Tony Rezko, who knows more and is not tainted by drug use?

Rezko sentencing November 22, 2011, Prosecutors seek stiff sentence?, Obama is not your friend, Tell all

Rezko sentencing November 22, 2011, Prosecutors seek stiff sentence?, Obama is not your friend, Tell all

“Rezko has also stated in interviews with the government that he believed he transmitted a quid pro quo offer from a lobbyist to the public official, whereby the lobbyist would hold a fundraiser for the official in exchange for favorable official action”

“The defense has a good faith belief that this public official is Barack Obama.”…Blagojevich defense subpoena of Barack Obama

“I’m assuming the information is about the payments made by Rezko to Obama, so we know we’re talking about the right conversation, right?” …Attorney Daniel Konicek, Frawley Deposition

“Why did the Illinois Senate Health & Human Services Committee, with Obama as chairman, create and push Bill 1332, “Illinois Health Facilities Planning Act,” early in 2003, which reduced the number of members on the Board from 15 to 9, just prior to rigging by Tony Rezko and Rod Blagojevich?”…Citizen Wells

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

From the Chicago Tribune November 04, 2011.

“Prosecutors seek stiff time for Rezko”

“Federal prosecutors downplayed the extent of the cooperation provided by Antoin “Tony” Rezko in calling for the former top fundraiser to disgraced ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to be sentenced to 11 to 15 years in prison.

Prosecutors noted that Rezko agreed to cooperate only after a federal jury convicted him in 2008 on 16 counts of fraud, bribery and money laundering and that he continued to hide many of his criminal activities in his first 19 interviews with the government.

The government didn’t call Rezko as a witness at either the Blagojevich trial or the recent trial of Springfield power broker William Cellini, saying in its filing that “the value of the information he could have provided was overwhelmed by the attacks that could be made on Rezko’s credibility.”

The government’s 48-page memo was filed late Thursday, just hours after a federal judge had unsealed the defense’s position paper on Rezko’s sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 22. Rezko’s lawyers argued that he should be sentenced to time served. He has already spent almost four years in custody while awaiting sentencing.

In its filing, the defense made much of the fact that Rezko had been harshly treated in jail — first at the downtown Metropolitan Correctional Center and then in a county jail in Wisconsin. It said he had “not enjoyed a breath of fresh air or a ray of sunlight” in his 44 months in custody and said conditions of that kind were usually reserved for “the most violent or mentally disturbed inmates,” not a public-corruption defendant.

Prosecutors argued that Rezko’s conditions of confinement do not justify a sentence of time served but agreed that U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve, in fashioning her sentence, should consider the nine months Rezko spent in solitary confinement at the Loop jail.

The government compared Rezko’s level of wrongdoing to that of Stuart Levine, a corrupt insider who faces about 5 1/2 years in prison after cutting a plea deal. But prosecutors said Rezko deserved a much stiffer sentence because Levine’s cooperation had been far more significant.

Calling his cooperation “truly remarkable,” prosecutors pointed out that Levine agreed to cooperate after he had been charged and even wore a wire on former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, leading to Vrdolyak’s conviction.”

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-04/news/ct-met-rezko-sentencing-1105-20111105_1_antoin-tony-rezko-stuart-levine-loop-jail

From the Chicago SunTimes November 4, 2011.

“In court papers asking a judge to free him from jail later this month
rather than having to do more time, convicted political fund-raiser
Tony Rezko said that after spending 20 years in Chicago politics, he
was still taken aback by a request that allegedly came from former
Gov. Rod Blagojevich.”

“The filing did give new insight to the extent of Rezko’s cooperation
with the government, saying he had met with authorities 29 separate
days over the three years following his conviction and that memo
summaries of his interviews fill 360 pages.

Lawyers said that it was Rezko who initially implicated Monk, who was
charged, and government witness Joe Aramanda. Rezko also implicated
lobbyist John Wyma, they say, and Wyma gave the feds probable cause to
wiretap Blagojevich’s phones.

A onetime fund-raiser to Barack Obama, Rezko had voluntarily
surrendered to prison after he was convicted on 16 of 24 counts to
begin immediately begin his sentence.

Rezko was convicted of using his clout to control state government and
direct kickbacks from government deals to himself and others.

He spent 276 days in solitary confinement at the downtown lockup,
something that the jail typically does with high-profile inmates. He
was later moved to a county jail in Wisconsin and has lost more than
80 pounds since he’s been locked up with his “weight dipping to a low
of 154 pounds.”

“With this dramatic weight loss, Mr. Rezko has shrunk from a robust,
if somewhat overweight, man to a frail and gaunt shell of his former
self,” his lawyers wrote.

“He has not enjoyed a breath of fresh air or a ray of sunlight for
nearly three and a half years, and he has not been allowed to hug his
wife or daughter since he left the MCC nearly three years ago.””

“Lawyers said Rezko’s own success in business led him to branch out and
support numerous national, state and local politicians.

“And, of course, Mr. Rezko was a friend, advisor, and early supporter
of a young politician named Barack Obama,” lawyers wrote.

Federal prosecutors are expected to file a position on Rezko’s
sentencing late Thursday and sources say they are expected to ask for
a sentence greater than the 5 ½ years that co-conspirator Stuart
Levine is slotted to get under his plea deal.”

http://www.suntimes.com/8593723-417/after-44-months-tony-rezko-asks-to-be-sentenced-to-time-served.html

From John Kass of the Chicago Tribune June 13, 2008.

“The last thing Sen. Barack Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich needed was that letter written by convicted Illinois influence peddler Tony Rezko promising he’d never rat out his pals.”

“They are pressuring me to tell them the ‘wrong’ things that I supposedly know about Governor Blagojevich and Senator Obama,” the fundraiser (and Obama’s personal real estate fairy) wrote in a letter to U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve.

“I have never been a party to any wrongdoing that involved the Governor or the Senator,” Rezko argued. “I will never fabricate lies about anyone else for selfish purposes. I will take whatever comes my way, but I will never hurt innocent people.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-kass-13-jun13,0,1570658.column

Every press report, every comment coming from Rezko’s attorney since then has indicated thet he has been cooperating with the feds.

The question is, why wasn’t Rezko called as a witness in the Blagojevich and Cellini trials?

The answer is.

To keep Obama’a name and activities out of court testimony and the press and set Rezko up with a tougher sentence as the fall guy. To keep him quiet.

If you are Tony Rezko, a Rezko family member or friend or one of Rezko’s attorneys, urge Mr. Rezko to reveal all about Obama. Obama is not your friend.

Contact me with a comment on this blog. I promise you that if Rezko talks, I will do everything in my power to get the information in front of the American public and appropriate members of Congress.

Blagojevich sentencing set for December 6, 2011, District Judge James Zagel, Sentence may exceed former Governor George Ryan’s

Blagojevich sentencing set for December 6, 2011, District Judge James Zagel, Sentence may exceed former Governor George Ryan’s

“I believe I’m more pristine on Rezko than him.”…Rod Blagojevich

From the Chicago Tribune November 7, 2011.

“A federal judge today scheduled former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s sentencing for Dec. 6.

The disgraced former government was convicted last summer on sweeping corruption charges, including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat left open by Barack Obama’s election as president..

U.S. District Judge James Zagel had originally scheduled Blagojevich’s sentencing for Oct. 6, but it was indefinitely postponed in part because the judge was then presiding over the trial of Blagojevich co-defendant William Cellini, a Springfield power broker who was convicted last week.

Prosecutors have not said yet what sentence they will seek for Blagojevich, but it is widely expected that they will ask for more than the 6½-year prison term being served by his predecessor, former Gov. George Ryan, for his 2006 corruption conviction.

U.S. Attorney’s Office spokeman Randall Samborn said that the sentencing could go into a second day if necessary.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-blagojevich-sentencing-set-for-dec-6-20111107,0,2249696.story

Obama Rezko Daley Blagojevich Chicago corruption, Chris Kelly and other mysterious deaths, Thomas R. Bennett Chicago perspective

Obama Rezko Daley Blagojevich Chicago corruption, Chris Kelly and other mysterious deaths, Thomas R. Bennett Chicago perspective 

“Why was Christopher Kelly transported past 2 trauma facilities on the way to Stroger Hospital?”…Thomas R. Bennett

From Nuclear Chicago.

About

“Thomas R. Bennett, owner and publisher of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO is also the Principal of a Chicago-based commercial real estate company as well as the sponsor of several emerging technology and Next Generation Commerce early-stage investments.

Mr. Bennett’s citizen journalism endeavor via NUCLEAR | CHICAGO while recent, is not new to the extended Bennett family.  Investigative journalism and law enforcement is very much a part of Mr. Bennett’s DNA as several of Mr. Bennett’s relatives have backgrounds in both law enforcement and media.

In fact, the catalyst for Mr. Bennett establishing NUCLEAR | CHICAGO can be attributed to both Mr. Bennett’s aggressive and determined approach for uncovering The Truth as well as influenced by the legacy that was established by Mr. Bennett’s Irish Immigrant Great Uncle – Michael ‘Iron Mike’ Hughes.

‘Iron Mike’ Hughes, a native of Ballygar in County Galway, Ireland, was the Chief of the Chicago Police Department, and former Chief of Detectives during the Era in which Al Capone and his notorious gang of hoodlums were roaming the streets of Chicago.  According to the Chicago Tribune, ‘Iron Mike’ Hughes – had a ‘record without parallel’ and was regarded as ‘the personal nemesis of all crookdom’ during his tenure at the Chicago Police Department.

Upon Iron Mike’s retirement in November 1935 after a 41-year career with the Chicago Police Department, Iron Mike embarked upon a career as a journalist and reporter with the The Chicago American – the last of the aggressive journalistic traditions in Chicago.

In recent years, Mr. Bennett has been exposed to various levels of ‘crookdom’ emanating from Rich Daley’s City Hall for the past several years.  To this end, the final catalyst for Mr. Bennett’s launch of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO can be attributed to a handful of corrupt events that Mr. Bennett was subjected to beginning in 2007.  NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be reporting upon his  own experience in great detail, as well as other instances of ‘crookdom’ throughout Illinois.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be posting the biographies of other journalists and related team members in coming weeks.”

MISSION

“Our mission is to produce very relevant, uncensored (and unbiased), high-quality, old-school investigative journalism material. NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will be distributed via web, print, television mainstream media partnerships and radio partnerships.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO is delivering the nuclear energy required to disinfect the systemic and pervasive public corruption that pollutes our city, state and our nation.

The majority of our local, state and national policy-makers have demonstrated both a lack of respect and understanding toward the U.S. Justice Louis Brandeis philosophy related to maintaining the benefits of openness and transparency in government – “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.”

As both publisher and owner of NUCLEAR | CHICAGO, I invoke the above-Brandeis quote as it’s appearing that sunlight alone is ineffectual in Chicago.

To this end, the only option remaining for our city, our state and our democracy is The Nuclear Option.

NUCLEAR | CHICAGO will create effective levels of openness, transparency and accountability by simply going nuclear and reporting upon what the local and national media essentially censure and refuse to report upon.

Stay tuned and stay informed.”

http://www.nuclearchicago.com/

Thomas Bennett sent the link to the following video to me yesterday. Mr. Bennett addresses the bigger picture of Chicago, not just the Blagojevich trial, including former mayor Daley. He also provides some additional insight into the death and treatment of Christopher kelly and the mysterious deaths of others tied to Rezko and Obama.

Breitbart.tv » The B-Cast B-Side: Blago Connections Raise All Kinds of Concerns.

From Chicago Breaking News September 13, 2009.

“Flores-Buhelos initially told police that Friday night she received
text messages from Kelly — who was married but estranged from his
wife — saying that he had tried to kill himself, Welch said.

She then arrived from Chicago at the Forest Lumber Co. parking lot —
near a storage yard owned by Kelly’s company — and found Kelly inside
his car, covered in vomit. She pushed him into the passenger seat,
Welch said, and apparently drove to Oak Forest Hospital.

What happened there, and the kind of medical care Kelly received after
arriving, are among the remaining mysteries behind his death.

After initially seeming incoherent, Kelly apparently became lucid
enough to speak to police and was, at one point early Saturday
morning, stabilized.

Later that morning, his condition apparently deteriorated enough for
hospital officials to send Kelly to Stroger Hospital in Chicago, about
25 miles away from Oak Forest.

Cook County health officials said Oak Forest Hospital doctors thought
it made more sense for him to be treated at Stroger, which, unlike
their hospital, has a trauma center.

When asked why Kelly wasn’t transferred to a closer hospital, Cook
County Health and Hospitals System spokesman Lucio Guerrero said it’s
“standard procedure” to transfer patients from one county health
facility to Stroger when trauma care is needed after they have been
stabilized.

“The treatment or treatments necessary could be better facilitated at
Stroger,” wrote Marcel Bright, Stroger Hospital spokesman, in an
e-mail. “He was stabilized before being transported.”

Kelly was pronounced dead inside Stroger at 10:46 a.m. Saturday, officials said.”

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/mayor-kellys-girlfriend-is-lawyered-up-not-talking.html

“He was stabilized before being transported.”

Apparently not!

Obama corruption tie Christopher Kelly death, Some day the whole truth will come out, Donald Young, Murder and suicide?, Dead men speak

Obama corruption tie Christopher Kelly death, Some day the whole truth will come out, Donald Young, Murder and suicide?, Dead men speak

“Some day, the whole truth will come out.”…Christopher Kelly, 4 days before his death

Two men with ties to Obama’s past are dead. Yet their voices and deeds can still be heard. We will not let their deaths go unnoticed, forgotten.

Donald Young, the choirmaster at TUCC, Obama’s church, was murdered in December 2007. Young had knowledge of Obama’s drug use and gay sex activities.

Christopher Kelly, whose name was mentioned over 140 times in the Blagojevich Evidentiary Proffer, conveniently died in 2009. His death, under very suspicious circumstances, was investigated as a homicide but ruled a suicide. Kelly was in the thick of Chicago corruption with Obama’s buddies Rezko, Levine, et al.

Four days before Christopher Kelly’s death, he stated the following:

“Some day, the whole truth will come out.”

I agree. Slowly but surely I believe that the truth is coming out. I will do my best to assist.
From Chicago Breaking News September 13, 2009.

“Police plan on Monday to go over security surveillance cameras at the
Oak Forest hospital to see who showed up after Kelly, partially in
hopes of identifying a white-haired man who tried to drive away in
Kelly’s car before hospital police stopped him.

The man left without an explanation, Welch said.

“That’s [Kelly’s] best friend, that’s all we know right now,” Welch
said, adding police also will target the text messages allegedly sent
by Kelly to Flores-Buhelos. “We have to get a court order to get that
stuff, and we will get that.””

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/09/mayor-kellys-girlfriend-is-lawyered-up-not-talking.html

From Chicago Breaking News November 23, 2009

“New details about Christopher Kelly emerge”

“As Christopher Kelly was being treated for a fatal overdose, the
political fundraiser who was being pressured to testify against
ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich confided to his girlfriend to “tell them they
won.”

“It’s my life,” Kelly told Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, according to a
police report released today to the Tribune. “Tell them they won, tell
them they won.”

The report does not specify to whom Kelly was referring. It was one of
several new details contained in the 47-page police report released by
Country Club Hills, where Kelly took numerous pills before his Sept.
12 death that authorities have ruled a suicide.”

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/11/new-details-about-christopher-kelly-emerge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+ChicagoBreakingNews+(Chicago+Breaking+News)

From Citizen Wells May 1, 2010.

“Dead men don’t talk or do they?

Three deaths.
Christopher Kelly  ( Suicide ?? )
John Stroger       ( Stroke complications )
Orlando Jones      ( Suicide ?? )
All three with connections to Rod Blagojevich and Barack Obama.”

“Six months before Obama bought the strip of land from Rezko’s “wife”
to enlarge his yard, on August 28, 2005, Natasha Korecki reported in
the Sun-Times that, “there’s so much corruption to investigate in the
Chicago area, the FBI is adding manpower.”

Robert Grant, FBI Special Agent in Charge, told the Times that he had
reorganized the bureau to add a third public corruption squad, giving
Chicago the largest corruption unit in the country, even bigger than
those in New York and Los Angeles.”
“The “fashion show” was chaired by Rita Rezko, co-chaired by the
Governor’s wife, Patti Blagojevich, and Michelle Obama was a special
guest that day, according to Merriner.

Two weeks after the “fashion show,” on November 17, 2006, the
Sun-Times reported that Blagojevich’s wife Patti got nearly $50,000
from a real estate deal in late 2002 involving Rezko.

In terms of dollar amounts of campaign contributions directly from
Rezko in Illinois, the top four earners were, the now deceased
President of the Cook County Board, John Stroger, Blagojevich, Chicago
Mayor, Richard Daley, and Obama — in that order.

Rezko was the head of Stroger’s campaign finance committee at the same
time that he served on Obama US Senate finance committee.

When it came time for Stroger’s reelection campaign, in the midst of
the erupting Rezko scandals in the media, on April 8, 2005, the
Tribune reported that Stroger “has selected beleaguered businessman
and political powerbroker Antoin “Tony” Rezko as one of the honorary
chairs of his campaign fundraiser next month.”

Stroger appointed Rezko’s wife Rita to the Cook County Employee
Appeals Board, which hears cases filed by fired or disciplined
workers, at a part-time salary of $37,000 a year.

According to documents filed in the Rezko corruption case, this was
Rita’s sole income when she supposedly came up with a $125,000 down
payment and secured a $500,000 mortgage to buy the $625,00 lot next to
Obama. Less than a year after Obama bought his strip of land, Rita
sold the rest of the lot to attorney Michael Sreenan, and made a
profit of more than $50,000.

On February 27, 2007, the Sun-Times pointed out that Obama’s “new
neighbor, Michael Sreenan,” had contributed $5,000 to Obama’s
campaigns. Less than a year after buying the lot, Sreenan put it up
for sale for $1.5 million in October 2007.

Of course John Stroger will not be answering any questions about
corruption, or any other matter, because he died on January 18, 2008.
His former chief of staff and godson, Orlando Jones, will not be
talking either because he was found dead of self-inflicted gun wounds
in September 2007, “just as a corruption inquiry targeting him was
heating up,” according to a September 7, 2007 report by CBS News
channel 2 Chicago.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/blagojevich-trial-christopher-kelly-john-stroger-orlando-jones-dead-men-dont-talk-or-do-they-obama-and-blagojevich-corruption-cronies-tony-rezko-patti-rezko-patti-blagojevich-michelle-obam/

Cellini found guilty of conspiracy bribery, November 1, 2011

Cellini found guilty of conspiracy bribery, November 1, 2011

From the Chicago Tribune November 1, 2011.

“Cellini found guilty of conspiracy, bribery”
“A federal jury convicted Springfield power broker William Cellini on two of four counts in connection with a plot to extort a Hollywood producer.

The multimillionaire Republican businessman who wielded influence behind the scenes in Illinois politics and government for four decades was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and aiding and abetting the solicitation of a bribe.

He was acquitted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and attempted extortion.

A straight-faced Cellini tapped his folded hands at the edge of the defense table as the verdict was read, otherwise showing little emotion. His daughter Claudia dropped her head on word of the first of the two guilty verdicts.

Cellini’s lawyer Dan Webb put the best face possible on the verdict, saying he was pleased the jury had “thrown out the most serious charges” and  that Cellini’s involvement “didn’t even rise to the level of an attempted extortion.”

“We obviously are going to appeal … and we are confident we have a substantial chance of getting the case reversed,” Webb said.

Cellini did not speak as he left the courthouse.

Patrick Fitzgerald, on crutches, said the prosecution was gratified by the guilty verdicts on the two counts, calling Cellini’s prosecution an “extremely important case.”

“In the quiet corridors in Chicago and Cook County and Springfield, a lot of backroom deals take place, and the fact that Bill Cellini was convicted today sends a very, very loud message,” Fitzgerald said.

The guilty verdict brings to 15 the number of individuals convicted in the eight-year federal Operation Board Games probe of the scandal-plagued Blagojevich administration.

Blagojevich himself is awaiting sentencing after being convicted in June on 17 of 20 counts, including allegations he tried to sell the U.S. Senate seat left open by Barack Obama’s election to president in 2008. The former governor was also convicted at his first trial in the summer of 2010 on a single count of lying to the FBI.

Word of a verdict in the Cellini trial came at about 10:15 a.m. Tuesday. It was announced at about 12:15 p.m.

The 10-woman, two-man jury had just returned to the courthouse from a three-day weekend. Deliberations began last Wednesday but had to be restarted on Thursday after a juror was excused for an unexplained conflict of interest. An alternate was added to the panel.

The charges against Cellini centered on his longtime influence at the Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, the state pension fund for public school teachers outside Chicago. To keep from losing his clout after Blagojevich became the first Democratic governor of Illinois in more than a quarter century, prosecutors alleged that the prominent Republican fundraiser agreed to pick firms to manage TRS’s hundreds of millions of dollars in investments on one key condition – if they had contributed to Blagojevich’s campaign.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-jury-has-reached-verdict-in-cellini-extortion-trial-20111101,0,3309176.story

FDIC Mutual Bank lawsuit reveals Rezko Obama corruption, Kenneth J. Conner lawsuit, Amrish Mahajan, Richard Barth, Where did Rezkos get the money?

FDIC Mutual Bank lawsuit reveals Rezko Obama corruption, Kenneth J. Conner lawsuit, Amrish Mahajan, Richard Barth, Where did Rezkos get the money?

“Why did Mutual Bank fire whistleblower Kenneth J Connor after he
challenged the appraisal on the land purchased by Rita Rezko, just
prior to the land sale to Obama?”…Citizen Wells

“Where did Rita Rezko get the money to buy the lot she sold to Barack and Michelle Obama?”…Citizen Wells

Here is what we know about the purchase of a lot by Barack and Michelle Obama from Rita Rezko in 2006:

1. “In June, 2005, Mutual Bank President and CEO Amrish Mahajan and
other Mutual Bank officers approved a loan to Rita Malki Rezko (Rita
Rezko) which was guaranteed by Antonin Rezko so that Rita Rezko could
purchase a 9,090 square foot vacant parcel of real estate at 5050 S.
Greenwood Avenue, Chicago.” (Conner lawsuit)

2. “On or about January 4, 2006, Rita Rezko entered into an
agreement with Senator Barack and Michelle Obama (Obamas) to sell a
ten-foot strip of the 5050 S. Greenwood property to the Obamas.”
(Conner lawsuit)

3. “In late 2005 or early 2006, Conner performed an appraisal review
of the Adams Appraisal (Exhibit C) per the directive of Richard Barth
and James Murphy. Conner prepared a written Appraisal Review report
(ARR) opining that the Adams Appraisal overvalued the Greenwood lot by
a minimum of $ 125,000.00 and that a reasonable and fair valuation for
Mutual Banks’s underwriting purposes should be no greater than $
500,000.00 for the entire 5050 S. Greenwood parcel as originally
purchased by Rita Rezko.” (Conner lawsuit)

4. “On or about October 19, 2006, Mutual Bank received a Grand Jury
Subpoena (GJS) requiring Mutual Bank to produce the Rezko 5050
Greenwood loan file, as well as a Rita Rezko Riverside District
Development LLC checking account and loan file.” (Conner lawsuit)

5. “In October, 2007, Conner had various communications with Mutual
Bank’s Human Resources Department representative, Lana Schlabach. In
an email communication of October 15, 2007, Conner directly referenced
“Resentment over my mentioned discovery of the removal/replacement of
an appraisal review that I conducted. That appraisal review contained
substantial observations and suggestions. The transaction and parties
involved were high profile in the media.I am under the impression that
the FBI has since looked at the file.”” On October 23, 2007, eight days after Conner’s October 15, 2007 email to Schlabach attached as Exhibit J, Mutual Bank terminated Conner’s employment for pretextual reasons.” (Conner lawsuit)

6. “On October 23, 2007, eight days after Conner’s October 15, 2007
email to Schlabach attached as Exhibit J, Mutual Bank terminated
Conner’s employment for pretextual reasons.” (Conner lawsuit)

7. The FDIC has filed a lawsuit against Mutual Bank, Amrish Mahajan, Richard Barth, et al.
From Citizen Wells October 31, 2011.

“The FDIC is suing eight former directors, two officers and the bank’s lawyer.

The failure of the $1.7 billion-asset bank, which had 10 branches in
the Chicago area, is expected to cost the FDIC $775 million. From 2005
to 2009, the lender had nearly doubled in size, fueled by what would
turn out to be bad real estate loans, many of which were made to about
15 borrowers. Record-keeping was shoddy, and loan terms were changed
at closing with no board approval, the suit said. Mutual had become a
“lender of last resort for failed real estate projects,” particularly
in the hotel industry, the suit said.

One of the defendants, former bank president and board member Amrish
Mahajan, couldn’t be reached for comment.”
“5. Collectively, the Director Defendants and Officer Defendants
(“Director and Officer Defendants”) (a) recklessly implemented a
strategy of rapid asset growth through approving a high concentration
of risky CRE, ADC and out-of-area loans to a small concentration of
high-volume borrowers; (b) failed to implement appropriate
underwriting and credit administration practices; (c) ignored the
Bank’s loan policies; (d) ignored federal lending regulations; and (e)
disregarded warnings from the Bank’s regulators regarding the Bank’s
lending activities.”
https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/10/31/mutual-bank-amrish-mahajan-richard-barth-fdic-lawsuit-kenneth-j-conner-whistleblower-vindication-obama-rezko-land-deal/
8. The Rezko’s were deeply in debt. Where did they get the money to purchase the lot?

From the Real Barack Obama April 1, 2008 by Brenda J. Elliott.

“Weeks earlier, on February 10, 2008, RezkoWatch posted a lengthy
article in which was discussed the fact that Rita Rezko purchased the
lot for the full asking price of $625,000.00, with a downpayment of
$125,000.00 and the $500,000.00 balance financed with the Mutual Bank
of Harvey, Illinois, which is owned by Amrish Mahajan, who had loaned
millions of dollars in financing for Tony Rezko’s real estate
ventures.

It is also important to note that Sreenan, who handled the transaction
for Rita Rezko, “said that the lot was attractive to developers and
that the Rezkos had to outbid others to buy it.”

Complicating the matter is the fact that the January 26, 2008, Motion
for Issuance of an Arrest Warrant in United States of America v.
Antoin Rezko showed that in November 2006 Tony Rezko had submitted
documentation “detailing his assets and liabilities” to the Court. On
November 2, 2006, Rezko’s counsel sent a letter to the Court which
stated “that it was ‘abundantly clear’ that [Rezko] ‘has no income,
negative cash flow, no liquid assets, no unemcumbered assets, is
significantly in arrears on many of his obligations … and has been
forced to rely on family friends for financial assistance.’” Rita
Rezko only “had a salary of $37,000, but no other significant assets.”

In fact, on October 20, 2006, when Tony Rezko made his second court
appearance following his indictment, it was reported that Rezko had
“fallen tens of thousands of dollars behind in mortgage and property
tax payments. The lender filed suit to take back the big place.” Not
only were the Rezkos broke, but Tony Rezko was about $50 million in
debt.

As RezkoWatch wrote on February 10, 2008, this leads to the question
of where Rita Rezko obtained the $125,000.00 downpayment to purchase
the lot, as the source is not stated. Additionally, as this debt—the
$125,000.00—is not listed among Rita Rezko’s liabilities in October
2006, it suggests that the loan had been paid off.”

http://therealbarackobama.wordpress.com/2008/04/01/follow-the-money-who-really-bought-the-rezko-lot-updated/

William Cellini trial jury, How Stuart Levine a thief and con man became star witness, Where is Tony Rezko?

William Cellini trial jury, How Stuart Levine a thief and con man became star witness, Where is Tony Rezko?

“Why was Obama promoting Capri Capital and other investment firms at the same time that Rezko, Levine and Cellini were shaking them down?”…Citizen Wells

“Why was Tony Rezko’s sentencing delayed?”…Citizen Wells

“There is enough corruption in Illinois so that all it takes is someone who is serious about finding it to uncover it. If a U.S. attorney is not finding corruption in Illinois, they’re not seriously looking for it.”…Northwestern Law Professor James Lindgren

Here is another example of why “WE” is capitalized in Citizen WElls. From Commenter and astute observer of Chicago corruption, Bessie, at 10:40 AM.

“In today’s SunTimes there is a propaganda article spoon fed by the
prosecution their justification for choosing Stuart Levine…No mention
of how Tony Rezko would make a better witness, having never been a
drug addict, nor did he ever rip off close friends estate, or have
affairs on his wife with multiple male companions, or suffer long term
brain damage from over 30 years of drug use. They planted this piece
in the weekend paper hoping the jury would read it…and we are suppose
to trust the U.S. Attorney’s office?

Tony Rezko and his partner Daniel T. Frawley will be sentenced
November 22 and 23rd, the day before Thanks Giving, hoping no one will
cover or notice…They think they can sweep these two under the rug and
no one will notice….We should let them know we are WATCHING we are
paying attention and they could sentence them on Christmas day and we
will be there.”

From the Chicago SunTimes October 30, 2011.

“How Stuart Levine — a thief and con man — became star witness”

“To most people, Stuart Levine probably appears unassuming enough.

At 65, he works at a kiosk in a suburban shopping mall selling
electronic cigarettes.

But if the man helping bring down some of the most powerful people in
the state hoped to disappear into suburban obscurity, that hasn’t
quite happened.

Some days while behind that kiosk, the former Highland Park resident
once worth $70 million gets hecklers.

Those are the people who recognize the now minimum-wage-earning
Levine, having had a glimpse of his lurid history, painstakingly laid
bare in public twice after Levine has spent parts of 21 days
testifying in two high-profile criminal trials in Chicago.

He most recently sat as the star witness in the federal trial of
Springfield power broker William Cellini.

If Cellini is convicted, the much-reviled Levine will have been
central to sending some of the most prominent and back-room politicos
to prison. That includes Tony Rezko, a onetime political fund-raiser
to Barack Obama. Levine was the star witness in Rezko’s 2008 trial,
which led to his conviction.

Levine wore a wire against Ed Vrdolyak, a onetime alderman and
behind-the-scenes political force for decades. Vrdolyak ended up
pleading guilty to taking part in a $1.5 million bribery scheme.

Then there’s former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, whose corruption
investigation stemmed from a probe into corruption involving state
boards that blossomed with Levine. Once he flipped, Levine spent years
getting debriefed by various teams of federal agents and prosecutors.

“This was a massive undertaking,” said Levine’s lawyer, Jeffrey
Steinback, of his client’s role in cooperating since 2004. “You’re
talking about analyzing activities of the entire state government and
having to understand who and what and how it worked and figuring out
from the government’s standpoint who was culpable and who wasn’t.””

“Defense lawyers have repeatedly lambasted the government for pitting
Levine, someone who has admitted to conning people out of millions of
dollars, against defendants who aren’t accused of pocketing any money.

Webb noted Levine spent the better part of his adult life committing
reprehensible crimes, then pointed to an on-screen timeline: the
evidence tied to the criminal allegations against Cellini spanned just
a few days in May of 2004.

“Levine is a whack-job. Okay?” Webb told them.

In his 2008 closing argument, Rezko’s attorney, Joseph Duffy, said
Levine had spent decades living a double-life and fooling the world.
It didn’t end when he faced natural life in prison with no possibility
of parole after admitting to all of his crimes, Duffy argued.

“They are trained to suspect deception, and he conned them,” Duffy
said of the government. “He got the better of them, and he got his
deal.”

Levine’s deal calls for a prison term of five years, seven months.”

“But there’s another side of the story, prosecutors say: there are few
“choir boys” that can expose Illinois’ odorous underworld.

“Flippers like Levine, you don’t see them too often. He’s an anomaly,”
said former federal prosecutor Jeff Cramer. “The government would have
preferred to have put an honest man on the stand. The problem is that
defendants who are on tape trying to extort money never conspire with
honest men.””
“Testimony at trial showed Levine routinely schemed for kickbacks while
serving on state boards, including the Teachers’ Retirement System. In
2004, when he left the board, he didn’t give the real reason: the FBI
had come knocking on his door and played tapes of him secretly
scheming to make kickbacks off board business.”

http://www.suntimes.com/8479435-417/how-stuart-levine-a-thief-and-con-man-became-star-witness.html

Why call Tony Rezko as a witness?

He was only mentioned 75 times in the Cellini indictment and has no drug issues.

He knows everything about corruption in Chicago or as someone stated “He knows where all the bodies are.”

Oops, that may be a problem for you know who.