Witness: That's how Tony would want it

The head of pathology at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge testified at Tony Rezko’s corruption trial this afternoon that he was told to vote a certain way on a state hospital board “because that’s how Tony would want it.”

Testifying under a letter of immunity from prosecution, Dr. Imad Almanaseer said Rezko helped get him appointed to the state hospital planning board after he invested $500,000 in a Rezko company. Almanaseer said that, while he served on the board, beginning in 2003, he had trouble getting his money back. He considered it a loan, he told jurors, and expected interest and equity.

But, in 2005, Rezko gave him $800,000. That’s long after a federal investigation into planning board activities became public.

When he started on the board, Almanaseer said he spoke with chairman Thomas Beck, who told him that, if he had trouble deciding how to vote, he should watch how board member Stuart Levine voted.

“If you’re not sure how to vote, watch how Mr. Levine votes because that’s how Tony would want it,” Almanaseer testified. “I said, ‘Fine.’ ”

Later, when Almanaseer relayed that plan to Rezko, “He laughed about it and changed the subject,” Almanaseer said under questioning by Assistant U.S. Attorney Reid Schar.

Earlier today, defense lawyer Joseph Duffy cross-examined Beck, who had testified Wednesday that Rezko urged him to vote for an $81 million hospital proposed for Crystal Lake. Through Beck’s testimony, Duffy suggested that it was Levine who was pushing for the hospital deal, not Rezko.

Levine, the government’s chief witness against Rezko, took a bribe in the deal, according to prosecutors. Levine has pleaded guilty for his role.

Rezko, 52, is accused of scheming with Levine to stack state boards and control votes so they could line their own pockets.

Duffy pointed to Levine’s repeated calls to Beck the day before the vote on the Mercy hospital plan and noted that it was Levine who got Rezko on the phone the morning of the vote. Levine handed Beck the phone, Beck testified, and then Rezko urged Beck to back the Mercy proposal.

To show that Rezko’s wasn’t the only influence on the board, Duffy rattled off a list of names of other political heavyweights whom Beck said he knew backed competing hospital proposals. That included former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, Illinois Senate President Emil Jones and Illinois House Minority Leader Tom Cross.