What to expect on last day
Federal prosecutors termed Antoin "Tony" Rezko's alleged crimes a "pay-to-play scheme on steroids" when they indicted him in 2006.
Today, after eight weeks of testimony featuring dozens of witnesses, prosecutors will tell jurors in closing arguments that they've made their case -- that the North Shore businessman and former top fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich anchored a scheme to extort millions from firms and individuals seeking to win a share of state business.
Rezko did so, prosecutors assert, for personal enrichment and to advance the governor's career by extorting campaign contributions.
Yet Rezko's attorneys will fire back that prosecutors fell far short of meeting their burden of proof -- so far that the defense did not even deem it necessary to call their own witnesses.
Lead defense attorney Joseph Duffy also is expected to hammer at the credibility of key government witnesses.
Topping that list is Stuart Levine, a financier, attorney and longtime Republican fundraiser. In lengthy testimony that opened the trial in March, Levine filled in details behind government allegations. He told jurors that Rezko, 52, of Wilmette, first greased the skids for his re-appointment to the state Teachers Retirement System board soon after Blagojevich took office in 2003.
From there, Levine testified, he rigged board decisions to steer pension fund allocations to any investor he and Rezko chose. Similarly, Levine said, he and Rezko used Levine's spot on the state Health Facilities Planning Board to approve a project in return for a kickback.
Levine of Highland Park said he and Rezko hatched plans involving bogus finder's fees and sham consulting contracts through which they intended to funnel cash. Central to Levine's account is an April 2004 dinner meeting at which he and Rezko discussed Levine's blueprint for extorting and dividing what they anticipated to be nearly $8 million in spoils.
Most of these plans, Levine said, failed to reach fruition because federal agents closed in on Levine one month later.
In his closing argument, Duffy no doubt will remind jurors that Levine admitted to heavy and long-term binge drug use, including cocaine, LSD and crystal meth. Defense attorneys suggest that drugs have impaired Levine's memory and Duffy, in aggressive cross-examination, managed repeatedly to portray Levine as confused about details.
Jurors also will be asked to keep in mind Levine testified in exchange for a lighter sentence for his own crimes. Prosecutors have recommended he serve 67 months rather than what could be up to life behind bars.
Closing arguments also promise to yield sharp contrasts in prosecution and defense interpretations of testimony from Ali Ata of Lemont, former head of the Illinois Finance Authority.
Prosecutors added Ata to their witness list several weeks into the trial, after he entered a guilty plea on charges of tax fraud and lying to federal agents in connection with separate government allegations -- not covered in this trial -- that Rezko engaged in fraud while trying to save his financially troubled chain of Papa John's pizzerias.
Prosecutors played for jurors numerous wiretaps of Levine discussing -- often with GOP power broker William Cellini -- clandestine manipulation of retirement system funds. But Ata was the only government witness to testify that Rezko shook him down directly or to say that he saw an actual exchange of money involving Rezko.
Ata told jurors that Rezko and Blagojevich, in essence, offered him his choice of state jobs -- he ended up at the finance authority -- after he made two $25,000 campaign contributions to the governor.
Duffy will ask jurors to consider the credibility of Ata, whom he addressed on cross-examination as a "convicted liar."
Defense attorneys also will cite the lack -- despite hours of wiretapped phone calls -- of any recording that directly implicates Rezko. Levine and others testified that Rezko demonstrated caution bordering on paranoia in regard to telephone conversations.
Duffy and his team also are likely to reiterate cross-examination testimony indicating that those being extorted testified that they almost invariably heard from Levine or another associate -- not Rezko.
Specifically, Rezko faces 24 total counts of wire and mail fraud, aiding and abetting Levine's solicitation of bribery, money laundering and attempted extortion.
If convicted of fraud and attempted extortion, he could face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. The bribery charges carry a top penalty of 10 years and $250,000 per count.
Depending on how long the prosecution's closing arguments last, Duffy's closing arguments could come Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Chicago, with the jury possibly receiving the case as early as Thursday.