Jury hears Rezko calls
FEDERAL COURT | Recorded talking with Levine, who testifies on deals with GOP insiders
For the first time in Tony Rezko's three-week-old corruption trial, jurors on Friday heard Rezko's own voice on secretly recorded telephone calls -- including a chat in which Rezko seems to be giving orders about how to fix votes on multimillion-dollar hospital construction projects.
The conversations, secretly recorded by the FBI in 2004, between Rezko and star prosecution witness Stuart P. Levine, preceded more bombshell testimony by Levine. He told jurors he effectively was given a quid pro quo by Republican insiders Robert Kjellander and William Cellini for pushing through a $150 million state investment deal in 2002 for one of their lobbying clients, the Carlyle Group.
(AP/Sun-Times files)
Listen to the recorded phone calls played during the trial:
Stuart Levine-Tony Rezko on May 18, 2004 at 7:45 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Adrianna Gonzales-Bill Cavanagh on April 12, 2004 at 11:19 a.m.
Stuart Levine-Tony Rezko on May 18, 2004 at 7:45 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Jacob Kiferbaum call on April 17, 2004 at 3:23 p.m.
Stuart Levine-P. Nicholas Hurtgen call on April 17, 2004 at 4:48 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Jacob Kiferbaum call on April 18, 2004 at 10:04 a.m.
Stuart Levine-Jacob Kiferbaum call on April 18, 2004 at 11:50 a.m.
Stuart Levine-Steven Loren call on April 19, 2004 at 5:14 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Steven Loren call on April 19, 2004 at 7:02 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Jacob Kiferbaum call on April 20, 2004 at 4:52 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Sheri Levine call on April 21, 2004 at 4:05 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Sheri Levine call on April 21, 2004 at 5:39 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Steven Loren call on April 21, 2004 at 8:03 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Thomas Beck call on April 19, 2005 at 4:56 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Thomas Beck call on April 19, 2004 at 5:25 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Thomas Beck call on April 19, 2004 at 9:29 p.m.
Stuart Levine-Thomas Beck call on April 20, 2004 at 4:37 p.m.
Up next: After a weeklong break, the trial resumes March 31.
In exchange, Levine said, he didn't have to pay an annual $75,000 debt to Kjellander, an ally of former Bush administration deputy chief of Staff Karl Rove.
In his fourth day on the witness stand, Levine detailed a litany of criminal acts -- some involving Rezko, most not -- as prosecutors attempted to weave Rezko into his quilt of white-collar crimes.
Prosecutors played for jurors three calls during which Rezko, a former fund-raiser and adviser to Gov. Blagojevich, is heard talking to Levine.
"You and I will still do what we need to do," Rezko told Levine during a May 18, 2004, conversation that was recorded after the two allegedly orchestrated approval of a new hospital in Crystal Lake in exchange for a $1.5 million bribe from a contractor Levine knew.
Rezko's statement meant that "Mr. Rezko and I would still do business the way we did before: privately," Levine testified, underscoring earlier testimony that Rezko had told him to keep their illegal deals under wraps.
On the May 18 call, Rezko also mentions Christopher G. Kelly, another top Blagojevich fund-raiser, and Downstate labor leader Edward M. Smith as being part of Rezko's plans to control members of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which approves hospital construction projects.
"Mr. Kelly had put things into motion, and it was really not the way Mr. Rezko wanted it to happen," Levine testified.
Levine then explained that an associate of Smith's had been picked to sit on the planning board, but that Kelly had wrongly suggested that she take orders from Levine about how to vote on hospital projects.
"I need you to call her and tell her you all take direction from the chairman" of the health board instead of Levine, Rezko told Levine on the tape.
"I will call her tomorrow morning," Levine replied.
Smith, who could not be reached for comment and is not accused of wrongdoing, is the chairman of the Illinois Laborers' Legislative Committee. The group has contributed $335,757 to Blagojevich since 2002.
Both Kelly and Blagojevich have denied wrongdoing and are not accused of participating in Rezko's alleged fraud schemes.
After testifying about Rezko's involvement with the health board, Levine moved into kickbacks he allegedly sought with Rezko when he was a member of the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System Board.
In doing that, Levine began discussing deals he was involved in before Blagojevich took office in 2003.
Levine said Kjellander called him and asked if Levine, as a TRS board member, could help him get the state to invest with Carlyle.
"At that point, did you ask Mr. Kjellander for any money?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner asked Levine.
"No sir," Levine replied. "Mr. Kjellander is a very close associate of Mr. Cellini . . . and I was happy to help him."
After Carlyle won the investment, he said Cellini, who worked with Kjellander, visited Levine's office. Cellini told Levine he no longer had to pay Kjellander for "present and future help" for a business called Compdent Group.
Levine previously testified he paid Kjellander $75,000 a year as a lobbyist to win a State Board of Education contract for Compdent, a dental services provider.
Levine was bound by TRS rules to disclose such a personal benefit but said he never did.
Comment on this story at sun times.com.
Stuart Levine once controlled tens of millions of dollars in charity and estate money. Now, he says he's broke -- with $1.8 million in assets (including equity in homes in Highland Park and Florida) but owing $5 million to the government as part of his plea deal. Any remaining debt, he said, "will be with me as long as I'm alive."
Here's what Levine, star prosecution witness against Tony Rezko, testified he did with some of the money he had:
* Skimmed $2 million from the $100 million estate of a dead family member, Ted Tannebaum, then split it with two associates.
* Gained control of IDDRS, a $20 million charitable organization, and gave a $3 million loan from the group to a company owned by Hollywood producer Tom Rosenberg. Levine's money ultimately was returned; he says he didn't profit.
* Siphoned $6 million from another charity, called NSO, keeping $3 million for himself and giving $3 million to Dr. Robert Weinstein, a longtime associate.
* Levine also testified about being baffled once when he saw a $3 million check bearing what seemed to be his signature. Eventually, he figured out who signed it: "I did," Levine said in court Friday. Once a heavy drug user, he initially forgot he wrote the check.