Rezko's not going anywhere, judge says

Tony Rezko should get used to orange.

The former fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be wearing an orange jail jumpsuit for the foreseeable future, after a U.S. District Court judge ruled he must remain in custody.

U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve said Tuesday Rezko's recent receipt of $3.5 million and other factors have made him a flight risk.

Rezko is scheduled to go on trial Feb. 25 on charges he orchestrated a pay-to-play scheme that traded government perks for campaign donations to Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Blagojevich has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

St. Eve jailed Rezko Monday after prosecutors came to her with evidence of the transactions, which he was supposed to report to her as part of his bond conditions, but failed to.

St. Eve held another hearing Tuesday in order to give Rezko's lawyer, Joseph Duffy, an opportunity to review the government's allegations and possibly provide an explanation. Tuesday, though, the judge was unimpressed.

What concerned her, she said, was the apparent ease with which Rezko was able to borrow the $3.5 million from a business partner, and that he helped secure the loan via his interest in 62 acres of land at Roosevelt and Clark Street.

Prior to getting the loan, St. Eve said, Rezko had told her he could not get any cash out of the property.

In addition, Rezko was preparing to divest himself of the rest of his interest in the land for several million dollars more, prosecutor Reid Schar said.

Not only does the arrest turn up the heat on Rezko to cooperate with the government by giving him a taste of jail, but it significantly hampers Rezko's ability to confer with Duffy and prepare for trial Feb. 25 -- a fact Duffy complained about.

"I can't give him his constitutional defense," said Duffy. "I need Mr. Rezko."

Duffy accused prosecutors of knowing about the April wire transfer for months, but deliberately waiting to disrupt trial preparation.

St. Eve said she was sympathetic, but noted that the large sums of money recently moved by Rezko worried her. In addition, she said, the fact that several of the nine properties friends and family put up for his bond were now encumbered, meaning their full $1.5 million value was compromised.

She based that conclusion on evidence that showed Rezko had used some of the $3.5 million to pay at least one property owner almost the exact same amount the property owner had put up in equity as bond for Rezko.

"The financial picture that has been provided to the court (today) is very different than the one that was presented to the court (at Rezko's initial financial disclosure hearing in January)," St. Eve said. "I find that the government has met its burden of establishing … that the defendant is a risk of flight.