Shared underwear among Rezko complaints

Eeeewww.

It's enough to make a man go commando.

Former gubernatorial fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko is being forced to share underwear with other inmates of the Metropolitan Correctional Center.

That disturbing fact came out in court Wednesday morning in a hearing before U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve when Rezko's lawyer, Joseph Duffy, used it to argue for home confinement for Rezko.

"The conditions he lives in are deplorable," said Duffy, noting Rezko is being kept in solitary confinement 23 hours a day.

"These conditions are used for punitive purposes … It's like 'the hole,' " he said.

"He has to share underwear with people on the floor. … It's disgusting," said Duffy, who noted prisoners in general population get their own underwear.

Vincent Shaw, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Correctional Center, later clarified that the prisoners' underwear are shared, but they are laundered after each use and prior to being returned to the inmates.

Periodically, new underwear is cycled in, Shaw said.

"It's even possible that he could get a brand-new pair of underwear," said Shaw.

Duffy pointed out the conditions as a launch pad for presenting St. Eve with a proposal to have Rezko monitored at home by a private security company. There, he would be under watch by police officers 24 hours a day and transported to and from the courthouse, Duffy said.

Rezko would pay the cost, said Duffy, who did not explain where Rezko, who has told the court he's effectively broke, would get the money.

St. Eve said she would consider the proposal but noted Rezko is not being held in solitary confinement for punishment purposes.

It is normal for high-profile, white-collar criminals to be placed there until prison officials can assess if putting them into the general population would pose a risk to their safety, St. Eve said. Insurance magnate Mickey Segal received the same treatment, she noted.

Rezko is scheduled to go on trial in early March. He is accused of taking kickbacks and arranging for campaign donations in exchange for appointments to government posts and ensuring certain companies got government contracts.