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A U.S. judge on Tuesday sentenced Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former Chicago fundraiser for President Barack Obama, to 10-1/2 years in prison for corruption and extortion. - Reuters
Judge St. Eve said she was sending a message that dishonesty in government does not pay, and that the endemic corruption in Illinois must stop. Blagojevich's Republican predecessor George Ryan was also imprisoned for corruption. Blagojevich will be sentenced on 18 corruption counts December 6, which included attempts to sell Obama's vacant Senate seat.
St. Eve said Rezko was a private citizen who wielded enormous power during Blagojevich's abbreviated two terms in office through campaign donations and favors, and he and other corrupt officials helped engineer a scheme that netted nearly $10 million in bribes.
The scheme involved state boards in charge of approving new hospitals and oversight of the Teachers' Retirement System, a multibillion-dollar pension fund. Rezko and his cohorts extorted bribes from companies seeking to invest the funds.
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"That’s about as bad as it can get in a political corruption case," Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Niewoehner said according to the Sun-Times. "Illinois was for sale at the very top levels of our government." - The Hill
Rezko voluntarily went to prison in 2008 when he was found guilty on 16 of 24 counts of corruption charges related to money laundering and plotting to skim money from companies trying to do business with Blagojevich.
Rezko's association with Obama became an issue during his run for the White House. Then-Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Obama's top rival in that race, accused Obama of "practicing law and representing your contributor, Rezko, in his slum landlord business in inner-city Chicago."
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Obama Bundler Rezko Sentenced to 10 1/2 Years in Prison - Big Government
Readers will no doubt remember that Rezko and Obama were involved in a controversial land deal when Obama was a state Senator. They had very close ties:
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Complaint hits Rezko land deal Washington Times
A former Illinois bank official, now claiming whistleblower status, says bank officials replaced a loan reappraisal that he prepared for a Chicago property that was purchased by the wife of now-convicted felon Tony Rezko, part of which was later sold to next-door neighbor Barack Obama.
In a complaint filed Thursday in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Kenneth J. Connor said that his reappraisal of Rita Rezko’s property was replaced with a higher one and that he was fired when he questioned the document....
Critics of Mr. Obama’s dealings with Rezko charge that the senator may have gotten a deal on his property purchase, noting that Mrs. Rezko paid the full asking price for her property on an adjacent lot. Both of which were sold by a single seller. Mr. Obama bought his house for $1.65 million - $300,000 below the asking price.
When the property was sold, Mr. Obama knew Rezko was under investigation on fraud charges.
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We just imagined ObamaRezko. Orwellian - The Backyard Conservative
Rezko gets 10 years plus in the pen, he's served 4 already. Still no mention of his connection to Obama--he was his top money man, even as Bill Ayers was his political godfather.
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Media bias: Obama crony Rezko sentenced Tuesday; Chicago Trib article about it doesn't mention president - Marathon Pundit
