AP via Southtown Star

The 'ultimate insider'
Rezko corruption case Government's star witness could testify next week
March 15, 2008
BY MIKE ROBINSON The Associated Press
Stuart Levine has been billed as the ultimate insider, a star witness guaranteed to blow the whistle on millions of dollars worth of corruption in Illinois government at Antoin "Tony" Rezko's fraud trial.
The jittery-sounding, fast-talking millionaire also has been described as "a very, very sophisticated con man in the fullest sense of the word."
Either way, Levine is headed for the witness stand, complete with his history of using large quantities cocaine and all-night parties, as well as a so-called secret life that jurors won't hear about.
The deal
The 61-year-old attorney and businessman could testify as early as next week against Rezko, a former political fundraiser who is charged with scheming to split a $1 million payoff in return for authorizing construction of an $81 million hospital.
Rezko, 52, also is charged with scheming to squeeze kickbacks out of money-management firms wanting to invest assets belonging to the $30 billion Illinois State Teachers Retirement System.
His alleged partner in both ventures: Levine.
Levine has pleaded guilty in the case in hopes of getting a lenient 67-month sentence in federal prison. Had he gone to trial and lost, he could have been looking at a life sentence, prosecutors say.
Gathering evidence
In April 2004, days before the board voted on whether to allow Mercy Health Systems, of Janesville, Wis., to build a hospital in Crystal Lake, FBI agents armed with a court wiretap order eavesdropped on Levine's home phone. They heard Beck tell Levine there were serious problems with the Crystal Lake application and there was no way to get final approval at the upcoming meeting.
"Can they cure it by Wednesday?" Levine says, plainly wanting a vote.
But Beck says there's no way.
"What if they were asked the questions and had the right answers on Wednesday?" says an impatient Levine, hating to take no for an answer.
At times Levine stammers wildly and speaks rapid-fire.
It may have been a case of nerves because prosecutors say a $1 million bribe from the contractor who figured to build the hospital rode on the ability of Levine and Rezko to get the measure through the board.
Was there anything else making Levine jumpy that day?
What won't come out
Prosecutors already have conceded that Levine was a heavy drug user - cocaine, marijuana, crystal methamphetamine and ketamine, also known by the street name Special K. Secretaries heard snorting sounds coming from his office and saw him with bloody tissues and blood dripping from his nostrils.
A wiretap picked up Levine asking if his caller had got "the stuff."
Chief Defense Counsel Joseph J. Duffy says Levine's brain has been hammered so hard by drugs that his memory no longer can be relied upon.
When Levine takes the stand, prosecutors are guaranteed to "front" his drug problems.
They won't leave them unmentioned, allowing Duffy to act as if the drug history were a dark secret the government was hiding.
Switching parties
For years, Levine has been known as a Republican. He was a top fundraiser and contributor to former Attorney General Jim Ryan, who was beaten by Blagojevich in the 2002 governor's race.
But he contributed $4,267 in air travel to Blagojevich in 2003.