Rezko defense implies Levine switched off wires

The defense attorney for Antoin "Tony" Rezko implied Monday that star witness Stuart Levine may have intentionally sabotaged his undercover activities toward a target he was supposed to be tape recording for federal investigators.

As Rezko's corruption trial entered its fourth full week, his attorney Joseph Duffy questioned Levine about a June 10, 2007, tape recording Levine made of former Chicago Alderman William Singer. The recording was one of several secret tape recordings Levine had made for the government up to that point, each time wearing two recording devices.

Levine testified that up to that point, he knew of no instances where either of the recording devices he used had failed. Yet, somehow on that day both were shut off, Levine admitted.

"It captured no part of my conversation with Mr. Singer," said Levine.

Levine testified he was called on the carpet by federal agents roughly two weeks later and asked to explain the failure. Duffy subtly ridiculed Levine's explanations to the agents at the time that "sometimes Armani jackets have an extra button in the pocket and maybe the button turned the recording off."

Duffy then noted that after being confronted with the failed recording devices, the government never asked Levine to tape Singer again.

Duffy, whose theory of the case is that Levine is lying about Rezko merely to save his own skin, appeared to be trying to show that even months into his supposed cooperation with investigators, Levine was still serving his own interests rather than the government's.

Levine admitted government agents confronted him after the Singer incident and asked him point-blank if he had deliberately turned off the taping devices.

"You told them you didn't?" asked Duffy.

"Yes, sir," said Levine.

"And that's your testimony today?" Duffy asked.

"Yes, sir," said Levine.

Discussion of the Singer investigation began just before the close of testimony on Friday. Duffy elicited that Levine had attempted to record separate conversations with Singer and with former Alderman Edward Vrdolyak, whom the government accuses of scheming with Levine to defraud Rosalind Franklin University. Vrdolyak has pleaded innocent and faces trial in September.

Levine admitted Monday that despite his many attempts at taping Vrdolyak and Singer, federal agents never asked him to try to record Rezko, nor, said Levine, did they ask him to wear a wire to a party he was invited to on March 25, 2006, by fellow power broker William Cellini.

Duffy spent most of the rest of the day asking Levine about his drug use. Levine testified he sometimes attended drug parties that lasted 24 hours or more at which "it's possible" he would snort 10 lines of crystal meth and 10 lines of ketamine, an animal tranquilizer. But Levine was adamant that he never used alcohol in conjunction with ketamine, and that he would have only one drink when he was using other drugs.