Category Archives: Federal Court

Tony Rezko sentencing Tuesday, November 22, 2011, Rezko history since conviction, Rezko fall guy?, Daniel Frawley sentencing delayed

Tony Rezko sentencing Tuesday, November 22, 2011, Rezko history since conviction, Rezko fall guy?, Daniel Frawley sentencing delayed

“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.”… John Kass, Chicago Tribune

If the prosecution insists on going forward, I have two words for them: Rezko and Levine,” Cavise said. “They know where all the bodies are buried.””…Leonard Cavise,  DePaul University professor

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

Tony Rezko is scheduled to be sentenced today, Tuesday, November 22, 2011 in the courtroom of Judge Amy St. Eve at 9:30 AM. Rezko, convicted in June of 2008 has never been called as a witness. Here is a history of Rezko activity since being convicted.

June 8, 2008 conviction.

Breakdown of Counts
• Guilty on 12 of 15 counts mail/wire fraud
• Not Guilty on 1 count attempted extortion
• Guilty on 2 of 6 counts corrupt solicitation
• Guilty on 2 counts money laundering

August 28, 2008

“As his sentencing nears, pressure is mounting on Tony Rezko to cooperate with federal investigations into some of the highest-profile politicians in the state — including Gov. Blagojevich.”

“Now, sources tell the Chicago Sun-Times that Rezko has been seen at the federal courthouse as many as a dozen times since his June conviction. He’s been held since then at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago.”

“If Rezko’s cooperating, that would be a major development in “Operation Board Games,” the government’s ongoing probe into state boards that’s widened into a broader corruption probe.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/08/28/rezko-obama-tony-rezko-talking-john-thomas-chicago-suntimes-article-august-28-2008-is-rezko-working-with-the-feds/

October 9, 2008

“A federal judge this morning officially postponed the sentencing of political fund-raiser Tony Rezko as he continues his discussions with the government.

U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve indefinitely delayed Rezko’s Oct. 28 sentencing date and told the parties to meet again for a status in the case in December.
The sentencing, originally scheduled for Oct. 28, just before the election, was likely to bring unfavorable publicity to Rezko’s onetime friend Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama.

Prosecutors and Rezko lawyers said this morning they did not want to set a future date for sentencing.

Rezko lawyer William Ziegelmueller said they sought the delay to “work together to agree to otherwise narrow differences at sentencing.”

The agreement comes as Rezko is talking to federal prosecutors. The Sun-Times first reported Rezko’s meetings with the feds in August and sources close to the investigation later confirmed the talks last month.”

(Link not active)

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/rezko/1208918,rezko100808.article

December 16, 2008

“Jailed political fundraiser Tony Rezko’s sentencing for corruption was delayed indefinitely Tuesday, most likely adding to the legal problems of embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

The sentencing date of Jan. 6 was erased by U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve. The action appeared to signal that Rezko’s on-again, off-again relationship with the federal prosecutors investigating Illinois government was on again.

Both federal spokesman Randall Samborn and Rezko’s chief defense counsel, Joseph Duffy, declined to comment after the hearing. Duffy responded to a blizzard of questions by saying, “Merry Christmas, everybody.”

Rezko was a major adviser to Blagojevich and raised more than $1 million for his campaign fund. He started talking to federal prosecutors last summer, a few weeks after he was convicted of fraud, money laundering and bribery-related counts in June.

Then he stopped talking and demanded to be sentenced as soon as possible. Now that January date is canceled.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/tony-rezko-sentencing-delayed-judge-st-eve-delays-again-december-16-2008-rezko-blagojevich-and-obama-linked-rezko-contributions-to-obama-obama-indictment-next/

February 3, 2009

“Convicted businessman Tony Rezko — who is poised to become a crucial witness in the massive corruption case against ex-Gov. Blagojevich — was quietly moved out of a downtown jail and into another facility last month, the Sun-Times has learned.
Authorities seeking Rezko’s cooperation pushed for the move after Rezko complained about being held in the tough confines of solitary imprisonment, known as “the hole,” even as he was providing information to prosecutors, sources said.”

 
“Rezko’s relocation is a sign that even with thousands of taped conversations of the governor, investigators still highly value Rezko’s potential as a witness.”
“Rezko, who served as an adviser and fund-raiser to Blagojevich, provided authorities with substantial information involving the governor and bolstered pay-to-play testimony by former Illinois Finance Authority director Ali Ata, as well as talking about other alleged deals.”

http://blogs.suntimes.com/rezko/2009/02/prosecutors_help_move_rezko_ou.html

July 21, 2010

“What unholy alliance prevented Tony Rezko from being called as a prosecution witness? Was it a pact between Rezko, Blagojevich and Obama? Is the US Justice Department complicit in a coverup? Was there pressure from entities in the Middle East? Perhaps a combination of those forces. ”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2010/07/21/blagojevich-trial-us-justice-department-corruption-protecting-obama-part-5-tony-rezko-and-stuart-levine-are-best-witnesses-where-is-tony-rezko-why-hasnt-rezko-been-sentenced/

November 5, 2010

“Antoin “Tony” Rezko, once a top adviser and contributor to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, will be sentenced Jan. 28 for his role in a scheme to solicit kickbacks from companies seeking state contracts.

Rezko was not at the hearing this morning at which U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve set the sentencing date.

Rezko has agreed to cooperate against Blagojevich but wasn’t called to testify at the former governor’s trial last summer. With Blagojevich’s retrial set to begin in April, Rezko’s sentencing months before could signal he is unlikely to be called again. Defendants usually aren’t sentencing until after their cooperation has been completed.

A sentencing date was not set today for Rezko’s co-defendants, Stuart Levine, Joseph Cari and Steven Loren, who will next return to federal court for a status hearing in March.”

https://citizenwells.com/2010/11/05/rezko-sentencing-january-28-2011-rezko-witness-at-blagojevich-trial-rezko-agreed-to-cooperate/

January 8, 2011

“With the agreement of lawyers on both sides, a federal judge on Thursday indefinitely postponed the sentencing of Antoin “Tony” Rezko, keeping open the possibility that the government could call the former top fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich at the former governor’s retrial.

Prosecutors didn’t call Rezko at Blagojevich’s trial last year, but the government could be re-evaluating that since the jury deadlocked on all but one count against the former governor. He was convicted of lying to the FBI.

Rezko began to cooperate with investigators after a federal jury convicted him in 2008 of extorting millions of dollars from firms seeking state business. He was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 28. He also faces sentencing for a separate conviction stemming from a fraudulent loan scheme.”

“Prosecutors gave no indication if Rezko would be called to testify in the Blagojevich retrial or the trial of co-defendant William Cellini, a Springfield powerbroker, in August.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/01/08/rezko-sentencing-delayed-indefinitely-blagojevich-trial-cellini-trial-obama-trial/

January 29, 2011

“A federal judge has set a new sentencing date for a convicted influence peddler and one-time fundraiser for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Judge Amy St. Eve told attorneys at a hearing Friday that she’ll sentence Tony Rezko on Oct. 21.

Rezko’s attorneys and prosecutors had asked the judge earlier to delay Rezko’s sentencing to allow for the possibility he could testify at two upcoming trials, including Blagojevich’s corruption retrial in April.

At Friday’s hearing, the defense also argued in favor of a new trial for Rezko based on a U.S. Supreme Court ruling scaling back so-called honest services laws.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/01/29/tony-rezko-sentencing-october-21-2011-blagojevich-trial-witness-rezko-blagojevich-obama-board-rigging/

March 3, 2011

“A federal judge has denied a request from a former fundraiser for impeached ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich to throw out his 2008 convictions and grant him a new trial.”

“But Judge Amy St. Eve writes in a Thursday ruling that straightforward kickbacks and bribery underpinned Rezko’s convictions — not the disputed legal notion that he failed to provide honest services.”

“Prosecutors accused Rezko of squeezing kickbacks from people seeking state business. Rezko’s cooperated with prosecutors in Blagojevich’s ongoing corruption case and agreed to delay his sentencing until after the former governor’s retrial.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/03/03/rezko-denied-new-trial-judge-amy-st-eve-denied-request-rezko-cooperated-in-blagojevich-trial-why-rezko-not-a-witness/

May 31, 2011

“As a pale, thin-looking Tony Rezko admitted Thursday his two-plus years in jail is wearing on him, the convicted businessman became a possible factor in former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s April retrial.

Rezko’s January sentencing was postponed to leave open the possibility that the onetime powerful political fund-raiser could testify in either Blagojevich’s trial or that of Downstate businessmen William Cellini, Rezko’s lawyer said. However, prosecutors did not say whether they would tap Rezko.

Meanwhile, Rezko, who spoke briefly at a federal court hearing Thursday, revealed for the first time where he’s being housed — about 150 miles away inside the Dodge County, Wis., lock-up.

“These have been very tough times. … I’ve not seen the outside,’’ Rezko told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve. “I have no contact with my family since I’ve been moved to Dodge.’’

A Dodge County jail official said Rezko was moved to the facility Dec. 16, 2008.”
“Rezko’s lawyers said the convicted businessman would like to reap the benefits of testifying and possibly receive a lighter sentence. But he will not seek a delay in sentencing beyond September.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/05/31/tony-rezko-may-2011-court-hearing-rezko-witness-in-blagojevich-trial-rezko-jailed-in-dodge-countywisconsin/

October 3, 2011

“U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve agreed Monday to a request by prosecutors to delay Rezko’s sentencing — which was most recently set for Oct. 21 — until Nov. 22 so the sentencing doesn’t interfere with the trial of Springfield businessman and longtime political power broker William Cellini.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2011/10/03/tony-rezko-sentencing-delayed-again-until-november-22-2011-october-3-2011-hearing-rezko-sentenced-after-cellini-trial/

Daniel Frawley, an ex partner of Rezko, scheduled for sentencing yesterday, apparently had his sentencing delayed.

The sentencing of Tony Rezko today will be revealing. Will Rezko be the fall guy or will the deal struck in 2006 protect Rezko as well?

Daniel Frawley Tony Rezko sentencing, November 21 and November 22, 2011, Companion Security partners, Obama investigation witnesses, Fall guys or deals, Where is House Judiciary Committee?

Daniel Frawley Tony Rezko sentencing, November 21 and November 22, 2011, Companion Security partners, Obama investigation witnesses, Fall guys or deals, Where is House Judiciary Committee?

“Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich, Governor of IL, prosecuted before Tony Rezko, a businessman?”…Citizen Wells

“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

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

Next week Daniel Frawley and Tony Rezko are scheduled to be sentenced. Frawley on Monday, November 21 and Rezko on Tuesday, November 22. Both have information about Obama shady dealings. Both were partners. Both should be witnesses in an Obama investigation.

Next week we will learn if Tony Rezko is the fall guy in Operation Board Games. Set up to protect Obama. Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich prosecuted first? Why wasn’t Tony Rezko sentenced earlier? Rezko was never called as a witness.
We have a corrupt US Justice Department, with a corrupt prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, headed by a corrupt Attorney General, Eric Holder, headed by a corrupt occupant of the White House, Barack Obama.

We have little if any checks and balances left.

Where is the House Judiciary Committee?

From the  House Judiciary Committee website.

About the Judiciary Committee
The jurisdiction of the The House Committee on the Judiciary as follows:

1.The judiciary and judicial proceedings, civil and criminal.
2.Administrative practice and procedure.
3.Apportionment of Representatives.
4.Bankruptcy, mutiny, espionage, and counterfeiting.
5.Civil liberties.
6.Constitutional amendments.
7.Criminal law enforcement.
8.Federal courts and judges, and local courts in the Territories and possessions.
9.Immigration policy and non-border enforcement.
10.Interstate compacts generally.
11.Claims against the United States.
12.Members of Congress, attendance of members, Delegates, and the Resident Commissioner; and their acceptance of incompatible offices.
13.National penitentiaries.
14.Patents, the Patent and Trademark Office, copyrights, and trademarks.
15.Presidential succession.
16.Protection of trade and commerce against unlawful restraints and monopolies.
17.Revision and codification of the Statutes of the United States.
18.State and territorial boundary lines.
19.Subversive activities affecting the internal security of the United States.

Committee Members

Republicans
Hon. Smith Chairman (R) Texas, 21st

Hon. Sensenbrenner Jr. (R) Wisconsin, 5th

 Hon. Coble (R) North Carolina, 6th

 Hon. Gallegly (R) California, 24th

Hon. Goodlatte (R) Virginia, 6th

Hon. Lungren (R) California, 3rd

Hon. Chabot (R) Ohio, 1st

Hon. Issa (R) California, 49th

Hon. Pence (R) Indiana, 6th

Hon. Forbes (R) Virginia, 4th

Hon. King (R) Iowa, 5th

Hon. Franks (R) Arizona, 2nd

Hon. Gohmert (R) Texas, 1st

Hon. Jordan (R) Ohio, 4th

Hon. Poe (R) Texas, 2nd

Hon. Chaffetz (R) Utah, 3rd

Hon. Griffin (R) Arkansas, 2nd

Hon. Marino (R) Pennsylvania, 10th

Hon. Gowdy (R) South Carolina, 4th

Hon. Ross (R) Florida, 12th

Hon. Adams (R) Florida, 24th

Hon. Quayle (R) Arizona, 3rd

Hon. Amodei (R) Nevada, 2nd
  
Democrats
Hon. Conyers Jr. Ranking Member (D) Michigan, 14th

Hon. Berman (D) California, 28th

Hon. Nadler (D) New York, 8th

Hon. Scott (D) Virginia, 3rd

Hon. Watt (D) North Carolina, 12th

Hon. Lofgren (D) California, 16th

Hon. Jackson Lee (D) Texas, 18th

Hon. Waters (D) California, 35th

Hon. Cohen (D) Tennessee, 9th

Hon. Johnson (D) Georgia, 4th

Hon. Pierluisi (D) Puerto Rico, Resident Commissioner

Hon. Quigley (D) Illinois, 5th

Hon. Chu (D) California, 32nd

Hon. Deutch (D) Florida, 19th

Hon. Sánchez (D) California, 39th

http://judiciary.house.gov/index.html

Daniel Frawley deposition and testimony could lead to Obama arrest or investigation, Ulsterman White House Insider report, FDIC vs Mutual Bank, Where is House Judiciary Committee?

Daniel Frawley deposition and testimony could lead to Obama arrest or investigation, Ulsterman White House Insider report, FDIC vs Mutual Bank, Where is House Judiciary Committee?

On March 9, 2011, Ulsterman reported the following White House Insider report.

“You said earlier that Obama was more confident these days though…

He is.  Pelosi backed off.  Issa appears to have done the same.  Holder is holding the line.  Information coming out of Chicago is still being limited – clamped down upon.  That doesn’t mean they aren’t nervous.  They are.
 Watch the Blagojevich thing – the trial.  The deal to be made.  Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.  And what happened to Rezko?  That’s part of the same deal.  A company called Companion Security…Blago, Rezko, the Feds.  It’s all brewing – maybe boiling over?  Of course the national media is burying all of this.  Most of it – that’s partly why we gotta back off.  The risk, the exposure, it’s too great.  We need help – help that I thought was coming but never fully materialized.

Rezko?  That could still be a problem for Obama?

(Laughs)  Yeah – do you think?  Hell yeah it could be a problem.  The guy has been holed up in jail waiting for sentencing.  Why?  Why so long?  Holder’s people are all over that thing – just like Blago.  Obama is in the mix of that mess for sure.  Does anybody really dispute that?  But you see, it’s the Justice Department’s complicity in protecting Obama during the ongoing investigations – talking current crimes here now… that is what can really sink them.  Not that there is just bank fraud, RICO  laws that were broken, payoffs, intimidations, – that’s all basic Chicago business as usual, right?  But now add the White House’s handling of all of that since Obama became President  – now you got a presidential scandal.  Now you got an investigation that leads to uncovering all of that mess.  Now you got grounds to legally go after Holder, Jarrett, and even the President of the United States.  Hell, throw in the First Lady too…

So you think President Obama should be impeached?

Impeached?  -Expletive- no.  That’s too good for him.  President Obama should be arrested. What’s that word you used a while back – sedition?  Well there you go – that pretty much sums up this whole stinking cesspool of a White House right there.   Look, I was suspicious of this guy before – but based on what I was told these past few months…the man, those around him (pauses) …this president is the most corrupt thing to have sat in the White House in our lifetimes.  Being part of that campaign in 2008…it makes me sick.  Do you understand what I’m saying?  Sick.  To have played any part in getting him elected…Obama isn’t just incompetent…he’s something else. Something worse.  I’ve been around a lot of asshole-arrogant politicians.  Plenty of those.  Even a few outright criminals.  This is different.  This is a whole other level of corrupt.”

http://newsflavor.com/politics/world-politics/white-house-insider-president-obama-should-be-arrested/

On July 11, 2011 the Chicago SunTimes presented 2 articles.

Daniel Frawley sentencing delayed.

 “Ex-Rezko partner’s sentencing delayed”

“After this story was published Monday morning, U.S. District Judge Ronald A. Guzman canceled Daniel T. Frawley’s sentencing hearing, which had been scheduled for Tuesday. Court records did not indicate why Guzman did this. Frawley’s sentencing had not been re-scheduled.

Daniel T. Frawley once teamed with Tony Rezko — the political fixer who’s now in jail — in what turned out to be a doomed effort to open a training school for Iraqi security forces in western Illinois. Now, Frawley faces a federal prison stretch of his own.

On Tuesday, the 60-year-old onetime Chicago cop is set to appear before a federal judge for sentencing after pleading guilty in February in a $4.4 million bank fraud.

The scheme appears to have no connection to Rezko, the Wilmette businessman who was once a prolific campaign fund-raiser for politicians including the current president, Barack Obama, and the recently convicted former governor, Rod Blagojevich.

Still, federal prosecutors are seeking a reduced sentence for Frawley — of a year and a half in prison, rather than the 35 years he could face — apparently because Frawley has been secretly cooperating since at least 2006 in their investigation of Rezko, who was found guilty in June 2008 of having used his clout with the Blagojevich administration to enrich himself and his business associates.

Details about Frawley’s cooperation with the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI and the Illinois attorney general’s office can be gleaned from a 65-page court deposition he gave seven months ago in a legal-malpractice lawsuit that he filed against his former longtime lawyer, George Weaver. In the lawsuit, Frawley accuses Weaver of having overbilled him and telling him to “withhold certain information from the government” when he was cooperating with authorities.

That sworn statement, given Dec. 1, 2010, is posted at suntimes.com/news/watchdogs. In it, Frawley talks about three meetings he’s had with law enforcement authorities since 2006. The deposition outlines how he secretly recorded Rezko, and it raises a new and unsubstantiated question about Rezko’s once-close relationship with Obama — an issue that dogged the then-U.S. senator during his presidential campaign four years ago.

Frawley says in the deposition that on March 13, 2006, he was in the Dirksen Federal Building at 219 S. Dearborn, making a phone call to Rezko’s cell phone and secretly recording him when attorney Weaver walked in and interrupted him.

Also in the room at the time, according to Frawley, were: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Stern; James “Sam” Dorger Jr., of the Illinois attorney general’s office’s public-integrity unit; an “FBI agent whose name I do not recall”; and Thomas Durkin, a criminal attorney also representing Frawley.

“I was on the phone, making a phone call to Tony Rezko,” Frawley says, according to the transcript. “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,” drawing his hand across his throat.

Later in the deposition, Weaver’s lawyer, Daniel F. Konicek, asks Frawley about what specific information Weaver is supposed to have told Frawley to withhold from federal authorities.

“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 asks Frawley.

Frawley doesn’t answer. So Konicek presses him: “Am I correct it was about Obama being paid by Rezko?”

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

Nobody directly involved with the deposition — including Frawley and his lawyers, Weaver and his lawyers, and the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office — would comment.

Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for Obama’s presidential campaign, called Konicek’s suggestion that Rezko might have made any cash payments to Obama “utter nonsense.”

Besides the Rezko-Obama issue, Konicek also asks Frawley during the deposition, without any explanation, about “the $1.5 million from Rezko.”

One of Frawley’s lawyers objects to the question, and there’s no explanation about what Konicek is talking about.

At Rezko’s trial in 2008, Rezko’s lawyers disclosed in a court filing that federal authorities had accused Rezko of paying a $1.5 million bribe to obtain the security-training contract from the Iraqi government. Rezko’s lawyers then called that allegation completely false. Prosecutors have declined to comment.”

 http://www.suntimes.com/news/watchdogs/6394342-452/ex-rezko-partner-being-sentenced-tuesday.html

Tony Rezko’s $50 million Iraq deal  (reprinted from August 7, 2007)
“Two years ago, Iraq’s Ministry of Electricity gave a $50 million contract to a start-up security company owned by now-indicted businessman Tony Rezko and a onetime Chicago cop with a checkered financial past. Within a month, an Iraqi leadership change left the deal in limbo.

Now the company, Companion Security, is working to revive its contract to train Iraqi power-plant guards in the United States.

Companion found support last summer from Gov. Blagojevich, whose staff offered to let the company lease a military facility in western Illinois. Since then, Companion has been lobbying officials from Washington to Baghdad about its Iraqi deal, according to documents obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times.

Blagojevich’s offer to assist Companion came as a federal investigation into Rezko’s state-government dealings was heating up. A former top fund-raiser for the governor and other politicians, Rezko was indicted on corruption charges in October — four months after Blagojevich’s homeland security chief wrote a letter inviting Companion to train the guards at the Savanna Army Depot.

The governor’s spokeswoman said state officials didn’t know Rezko had ties to Companion until the Sun-Times began asking questions. Blagojevich and his staff also didn’t know that Companion’s chief executive, former cop Daniel T. Frawley, had a history of financial problems, she said.

It’s unclear if Frawley and Rezko remain partners. They declined to comment.

After the state found a proposed training site, Frawley went to Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) last August.

Obama’s staff declined to help.

“The Senate staff had two meetings, one conference call, and sporadically e-mailed with representatives of Companion Security about their request for Sen. Obama to write a letter introducing the company to senior officials in the Iraqi government,” Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said. “That is not the kind of action Sen. Obama usually takes for individual companies, and our staff concluded on that basis to decline the requested assistance.”

LaBolt said Obama’s staff was unaware Companion had any ties to Rezko, who has raised campaign donations for Obama.

Companion beefed up its lobbying efforts in March, hiring a Washington attorney who has contacted the U.S. State and Commerce departments. Frawley wants U.S. officials to persuade the Iraqi government to honor the contract he signed on April 18, 2005, when Aiham Alsammarae, another friend of Rezko’s, ran Iraq’s electricity agency.”

“As Frawley sought to revive the contract in spring 2006, Blagojevich’s chief of staff, John Harris, directed the state’s homeland security adviser, Jill Morgenthaler, to find “a military site for the training of Iraqi police forces,” Morgenthaler wrote in an April 26, 2006, e-mail. She wrote the letter in June 2006 offering the Savanna site.

Two months later, Frawley sought help from Obama, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee who is now running for president. Frawley met with Seamus Ahern, who runs Obama’s Moline office. Frawley and Ahern discussed the proposal over a period of about six months.

Obama and Blagojevich viewed Frawley’s efforts as a chance to create jobs in the Quad Cities area.”

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/6452990-418/tony-rezkos-50-million-iraq-deal.html

We have a corrupt US Justice Department.

Daniel Frawley is scheduled for sentencing, Monday, November 21, 2011. Frawley sentencing should be delayed.

I would like to hear more about the “payments made by Rezko to Obama” from the Frawley deposition.

The FDIC lawsuit against Mutual Bank and it’s officers also brings the ghost of Christmas past to Obama again.

Where is the House Judiciary Committtee?

There have been questions about the White House Insider report from Ulsterman as being real. Well, he was spot on about Companion Security and bank fraud in March of 2011.

Cellini trial juror felonies, John Kass, Failing to order jury background checks is cruel and unusual punishment for taxpayers, Delaying Blagojevich prosecution costlier

Cellini trial juror felonies, John Kass,  Failing to order jury background checks is cruel and unusual punishment for taxpayers, Delaying Blagojevich prosecution costlier

“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

From John Kass of the Chicago Tribune November 16, 2011.

“John Kass: Failing to order jury background checks is cruel and unusual punishment for taxpayers”

“I have an idea for how federal judges who neglect to order background checks of criminal juries can do public penance:

They can wear orange “community service” vests and use sharpened sticks to spear cigarette butts from the sidewalk out in front of the earthy hangouts where judges are known to have lunch.

But first, let me tell you what my friend Deuce and I did the other day. We went looking for that Cellini juror.
 
The one who apparently lied about her multiple felony convictions — a DUI and possession of crack cocaine — and by doing so may have screwed up Illinois’ most important political corruption case in years: The successful prosecution of a political untouchable, Illinois Republican boss William Cellini, the multimillionaire who spent decades in the shadows, undetected at the center of the Combine’s web.

Out in that juror’s neighborhood, it was getting dark but still bright enough so the man in her apartment could see us and buzz us in. A little boy stood out on the landing, waiting, and then the older gentleman wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jersey came out.

“She’s not here,” said the man in Hawks colors. His cellphone started to ring, and Deuce asked for his number.

“No,” he said. “I don’t roll like that.”

It was dinnertime. I figured she was behind that door. Just then the boy stepped back out. He said something about the Cellini juror who is believed to have hidden her felony convictions.

“She’s afraid,” he said.

She has nothing to be afraid of, I lied. Don’t worry, I told him. Then we left.

Actually, she has reason to be afraid. Perjury is a federal offense, punishable by prison. And she’s made some important people look awfully foolish.

She may have cost prosecutors and taxpayers an important conviction, and the expense of an extra trial.

I was in the courtroom the day the juror was questioned by U.S. District Judge James Zagel. She said something about a male relative who had been arrested, but she told Zagel that she felt she could come to an impartial verdict.

Now Cellini’s attorney, Dan Webb, is demanding the guilty verdict be overturned. Webb will use the issue to appeal in the hopes of keeping Cellini out of prison for the next several years.

Cellini is the whole ballgame. He’s bigger than convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, more important, with greater reach. Now the Cellini case has been compromised because of one juror. But not without help from Judge Zagel.”
“In an earlier high-profile case, he promised to check the backgrounds of jurors. But in the Cellini trial — a “heater” trial if there ever was one — it looks as if that didn’t happen.

He should have known better. During the corruption trial of former Gov. George Ryan in 2006, the Tribune checked the jurors’ backgrounds and found that two had concealed criminal convictions. They were dismissed. One was a holdout for Ryan.

But in Blagojevich’s first trial, Zagel turned down requests of news organizations, including the Tribune, for the names of jurors. The public wasn’t invited to know. Zagel said he understood the problems raised by the Tribune in the Ryan case but told everyone not to worry.

“The information-gathering process used by the Tribune (is) now automatically applied to jurors in high-profile cases,” he said.

Yet it appears that background checks weren’t done in the Cellini case, as Zagel had indicated they would be. After the trial, it didn’t take a Tribune reporter long to find the Cellini juror’s felony convictions.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-1116-20111116,0,3759608.column

Mr. Kass, I would add:

Failing to prosecute Rod Blagojevich earlier and Barack Obama at all, has cost the citizens of Illinois and the US an enormous price .

William Cellini lawyers request new trial, Juror with felony convictions lied under oath, 21 page motion, Cellini attorney Dan Webb

William Cellini lawyers request new trial, Juror with felony convictions lied under oath, 21 page motion, Cellini attorney Dan Webb

From the Chicago tribune November 14, 2011.

“Lawyers for Bill Cellini ask for new trial because of juror”

“Lawyers for convicted Springfield power broker William Cellini filed for a new trial Monday based on information first revealed by the Tribune that a juror apparently concealed two felony convictions from court officials during jury selection.

The 21-page motion argued that the juror — whose name was blacked out — deliberately lied under oath on separate questionnaires and again under questioning in court by failing to disclose convictions for crack-cocaine possession in 2000 and aggravated driving under the influence in 2008, both felonies.

The motion points out that the government’s key witness, political insider Stuart Levine, admitted on the witness stand to three decades of abusing cocaine and other drugs, which the defense used to attack the government’s case.

“(The juror’s) criminal history and drug conviction, in particular, would have been critical information if revealed during the selection process, given that a key component of the testimony and credibility of Stuart Levine concerned his own criminal history and his years of drug abuse and distribution,” the defense filing said.

The filing also cited the words of federal prosecutors in former Gov. George Ryan’s trial when, under similar circumstances, they argued to remove two jurors during deliberations in 2006 after the Tribune reported they had apparently concealed their arrest records.

“From the moment this issue surfaced (in the Ryan trial) … the government took the position that the jurors’ dishonesty demonstrated bias and warranted removal,” Monday’s motion said.

The defense also argued that the juror violated her probation in the drug case and failed to pay the $1,395 fine levied in her DUI conviction, disqualifying her from serving on a federal jury because her civil rights had not been restored.

Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office, declined to comment Monday night on the filing.

Some experts have told the Tribune that undoing a jury verdict would be no easy task, even if the judge determines that the juror was untruthful.”

Read more:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-cellini-mistrial-motion-20111115,0,7157354.story

Tony Rezko sentencing, November 22, 2011, Judge Amy J. St. Eve, 9:30 AM, Courtroom 1241 (ASE), Where is Obama?

Tony Rezko sentencing, November 22, 2011, Judge Amy J. St. Eve, 9:30 AM, Courtroom  1241 (ASE), Where is Obama?    

“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

Tony Rezko, long time associate and friend of Barack Obama, who was convicted in June of 2008 and never called as a witness, is scheduled for sentencing next Tuesday, November 22, 2011 in the courtroom of Judge Amy J. St. Eve .

Daily Calendar

Tuesday, November 22, 2011  (As of 11/15/11 at 04:46:39 AM

Honorable Amy J. St. Eve                    Courtroom 1241 (ASE)

1:05-cr-00691   USA v. Rezko                           09:30   Sentencing

http://www.ilnd.uscourts.gov/home/DailyCal/0.htm

Prosecutors are calling for Tony Rezko to be sentenced to 11 to 15 years in prison.

Why wasn’t Rezko called as a witness in the Rod Blagojevich trial?

Why wasn’t Rezko called as a witness in the William Cellini trial?

Why wasn’t Rod Blagojevich, the Governor of Illinois, prosecuted in spring of 2008 instead of Tony Rezko, a businessman?

Why has Obama been protected since 2006?

If Tony Rezko gets 11 to 15 years, we will know that he is the fall guy. If Rezko gets much less, we will know more about the deal that was struck.

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.