Jury Finds Rezko Guilty On Most Counts
Former Obama Associate Accused Of Political Corruption
POSTED: 2:04 pm PDT June 4, 2008
UPDATED: 3:00 pm PDT June 4, 2008
A jury has found political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko guilty on 16 of 24 counts in his corruption trial.
Rezko was found guilty on 12 of 15 counts of mail and wire fraud, as well as two counts of solicitation and two counts of money laundering.
He was found not guilty of attempted extortion, which would have carried the heftiest sentence.
Rezko was a prominent political fundraiser for Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Rezko has known Obama since the senator entered politics, and he was involved in a 2005 real estate deal with Obama. Testimony barely touched on their relationship, which Obama broke off. The focus was on shakedowns prosecutors said Rezko arranged when he was a top adviser to Blagojevich.
Neither Blagojevich nor Obama has been accused of wrongdoing.
Jurors told U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve on Monday they couldn't agree on one of 24 counts against Rezko. St. Eve told jurors to listen carefully to each other and try to reach an unanimous verdict.
The jury has deliberated for parts of 13 days since getting the case May 13.
The 52-year-old Rezko maintained he was not guilty of scheming to get kickbacks from companies wanting state contracts.
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