Developer in bribe case called a man with vision

An admittedly corrupt Chicago alderman was "worth his weight in gold" to a millionaire real estate developer when he used political clout to push through a big-money zoning change, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

"The defendant decided to buy the vote of Alderman Isaac Carothers," Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox said as the bribery trial of developer Calvin Boender got under way.

Boender's attorney, Robert M. Sanger, urged jurors in his opening statement to put aside any biases they might have against "somebody who is a big-time developer or has a lucrative deal," describing his client as a man with a vision for making Chicago a better place.

Sanger urged jurors to concentrate on what he described as Boender's plan to improve the city by transforming the blighted Galewood Yards neighborhood into a place of condos, townhomes, single family homes and a movie theater.

"It's a big scar on the face of Chicago," he said, pointing to an aerial image of the neighborhood.

Boender's plan would have changed all that, he said.

Boender, 55, is charged with showering $37,000 worth of home improvements -- windows, doors, painting and air conditioning -- on Carothers in exchange for the zoning change.

Carothers has already pleaded guilty in the case, admitting that he used his political clout to get the area rezoned from manufacturing to the more lucrative residential and retail.

Fox said Boender made $5 million more than he otherwise might have because of the change.

"Alderman Carothers was worth his weight in gold to the defendant," he said.

Boender is also charged with making $4,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Carothers' aunt, an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, by getting two businessmen to make the maximum legal donation at the time of $2,000 each and then reimbursing them.

And Boender is charged with producing a bogus invoice to make it look as if Carothers had been billed for the home improvements and getting subcontractor Stanley Walczak to lie to a grand jury. Walczak is expected to take the witness stand under immunity from prosecution.

Sanger, a Santa Barbara, Calif., attorney who was once Michael Jackson's lawyer, suggested the home improvements that Boender allegedly provided Carothers were unrelated to the zoning change, even though Carothers himself says otherwise. He urged jurors to keep an open mind.

"There's a lot of smoke here, and when you say where there's smoke there's fire -- that's not always true," Sanger said.

U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow Jr. is still deciding whether Mayor Richard M. Daley and as many as 10 aldermen subpoenaed by the defense will be required to take the witness stand.