Federal judge denies Rezko a new trial

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.

Tony Rezko's attorneys argued his convictions should be overturned based on a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that sharply curtailed how prosecutors can employ so-called honest services laws.

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.

She concludes the high-court ruling shouldn't apply to Rezko.

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.