* This is essentially the heart of the entire federal case against Bill Cellini…
Stuart Levine testified Thursday at Bill Cellini’s corruption trial that when he was seeking payback for state investments being made with a movie producer’s company, he wanted Cellini to be the go-between.
Levine, who has admitted using his position on state boards to seek bribes, said he had engineered a hold on a new $220 million investment from the Teachers’ Retirement System, where he was a trustee, with Capri Capital principal Thomas Rosenberg — producer of the Academy Award-winning movie “Million Dollar Baby.” He said he was trying to squeeze out a $2 million finder’s fee to be split, or $1.5 million to the campaign of then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
“I asked Mr. Cellini to deliver a message that Mr. Rosenberg was going to be expected to make a political contribution (to Blagojevich) and he (Rosenberg) should call me.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Niewoehner asked if Cellini agreed to send that message.
“Yes,” Levine said, adding later that, based on his conversation with Cellini afterward in May of 2004, he thinks the message was delivered.
But Levine also said he didn’t tell Cellini how much that contribution should be, and he also didn’t tell Cellini about the alternative possibility — the $2 million finder’s fee. That’s because, Levine said, he didn’t want to get another person involved to share the proceeds.
* Kass makes an interesting point…
But later there was more laughter. Cellini had talked to Rosenberg, and he was giving a full report to Levine. Rosenberg was balking at the prospect of forking over cash in exchange for state business, saying he didn’t want to deal with Rezko.
It’s really not much when you just read the transcript. Without the sound, it’s bloodless. Here’s what it looks like:
Levine: If Tom [Rosenberg] feels that he’d rather walk away from the money than deal with Tony, then there it is (laughs).
Cellini: (laughs).
Levine: I mean this ain’t me (laughs).
Cellini: Well, it was a, he said, he said I’m sick at my stomach. Tom said I’m sick at my stomach. This is, this is makin’ me sick at my stomach.
Levine: (chuckles)
Cellini: And I said, well, hey, I said it sure ain’t as hell didn’t make me feel too good ’cause I figured I’ve been kinda flyin’ under the radar here, you know.
They’re funny guys, amusing. But those are the words. When you hear it on tape, as we in the courtroom heard it Thursday, there’s a remarkable difference. They’re ridiculing someone who faces a choice: Pay up or walk away.
How could they laugh?
Because they were the guys with the juice, they were the ones who allegedly controlled the government, and when you can use the government as your hammer, that’s better than a dozen tough guys because the government carries the force of law. So corruption is only a piece of it. That’s just money. But corrupting the government, which is supposed to be fair, and the effect that corruption has on the people, that is stealing something too. It steals the presumption of honest treatment.
* Message sent…
Federal prosecutors Thursday presented the most direct evidence yet that power broker William Cellini allegedly took part in a scheme to force a Hollywood film producer to contribute to ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich or lose a $220 million state investment deal.
Jurors in Cellini’s corruption trial heard a secretly recorded phone call from May 7, 2004, in which Cellini told the government’s main witness, Stuart Levine, about producer Tom Rosenberg’s initial reaction to getting caught up in the Blagojevich shakedown attempt.
“After that conversation with the defendant on May 7, did you believe the defendant had delivered the message to Rosenberg you asked him to deliver?” prosecutor Chris Niewoehner asked Levine over the objection of defense attorney Dan Webb.
After Judge James Zagel overruled Webb, Levine offered jurors a one-word answer: “Yes.”
* Not much Tweeting from the courtroom today, so no live blog. But Dave McKinney did send this one out…
Prosecution now playing pivotal 5/8/04 tape between Levine and Cellini. Cellini says Rosenberg says of Kelly, Rezko: “I’ll take them down.”
* Related…
* First wiretaps played in trial of longtime Springfield power broker
* Cellini tapes go back to early days of Blagojevich investigation: Prosecutors are playing tapes that are more than seven years old at the corruption trial of millionaire businessman and Blagojevich co-defendant Bill Cellini. The tapes are conversations Stuart Levine had on secretly recorded phone calls.
- dupage dan - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 12:20 pm:
So, is there gonna be a special “Illinois Wing” set up at the fed lockup in Terre Haute to hold all these new prisoners from the Land of Lincoln? Could get crowded over there.
Can we give it a special name? The Kerner Korner? Ryan’s Drive? The Shoebox? RB Ave? The Magnificent Mile?
Oy.
- Coach - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 12:22 pm:
Perhaps the feds are just getting warmed up, but it seems they’ll need to do a better job of showing Cellini actually had knowledge that Levine, et al., were attempting to extort Rosenberg for the campaign donation as a condition of further investments in his firm.
Maybe I’ve missed something, but thus far it seems they’ve simply showed Cellini agreed to convey the message that Rosenberg should pony up a donation - no quid pro quo there. The fact that Cellini is tied in with TRS doesn’t necessary imply to Rosenberg that one depends on the other.
- wordslinger63 - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 12:29 pm:
No smoking gun on those tapes yet that I can see. It’s Levine’s testimony providing the context that is damaging.
So is Levine credible? Why should he be?
- Gregor - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 12:42 pm:
Hodge Lodge?
I’ve said this before; the feds don’t have to show a picture of Cellini dressed like a cartoon burglar, holding a gun and a money sack, to make their case. Today’s phone tap evidence plus Levine puts Cellini in the mix for this effort. He knows what the score is, and they are joking about how they have this thing all wired up, laughing the laugh of winners who can’t lose because they’ve rigged the game. As long as the feds adequately Define the Crime, so far they have the “pope” dead to rights here.
It keeps reminding me of the scenes about “Pauly” never using the phone in “Goodfellas”. Cellini was smart and slick for a long time. But he got tied up with the Three Stooges here, and they blew his cover.
- nino brown - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 1:01 pm:
Natasha?
- anon - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 1:17 pm:
does anybody know why the evidence and wiretap conversations aren’t available on the us attorneys website as they were with blago?
- kermit - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 1:21 pm:
I take it that Zagel is sticking to his Friday’s off routine? I seem to be the odd one out in this group but it would seem to me the “quid pro quo” was ‘pony up a donation to Blagojevich campaign’ and if you do you continue to get awarded the 200+million dollar TRS fund work. That is a quid pro quo. How they were going to split up that $1.5 million is not yet clear. The defense has not yet had their turn with Cellini which can/may offer up an explanation. What is not completely clear is why the prosecution is not calling Tony Rezko to testify when his lawyer (Joe Duffy) has offered up his client’s cooperation on numerous occaisions. When you compare the prosecutions
‘letter to the judge’ explanation for not calling him, compared to Stuart Levines torrid past it just doesn’t seem logical. Why would anyone in a 3 point game play their second string quarter back when their fist string is Brett Farve in his prime?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 1:23 pm:
===I take it that Zagel is sticking to his Friday’s off routine? ===
No.
- 47th Ward - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 1:44 pm:
“Wordslinger63″ — that’s new!
There isn’t a smoking gun yet, and probably won’t be. If there was, we wouldn’t be at trial and Cellini would be doing his sentence already.
I think Kass provided the necessary context that you can’t get from reading the transcript. They apparently sounded pretty chummy on the phone. That’s point 1.
The defense will likely attack Levine’s credibility, and there is ample evidence of Levine’s scumminess, most of self-admitted. Sex, drugs, extortion, corruption, you name it, he’s done it. That’s point 2.
So as Webb is attacking Levine, wouldn’t jurors wonder why Cellini sounded so chummy on the tapes? If Cellini was trying to protect Rosenberg, why was he joking with Levine about Rosencranz? If Levine was the sole actor, why was Cellini the go-between? What was the true relationship between Levine and Cellini? The tapes make it sound like there was much more there than Webb will acknowledge, but we also know Levine is a liar.
So there’s no smoking gun, but a heck of a lot of smoke. This will be a tough one for the jury, but I think the prosecution was right to bring this to trial with the evidence they had.
- Sue - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 2:26 pm:
This case will be decided based on the jury instructions- it is very easy to trip into a criminal conspiracy under Federal law without having to know about what each conspirator has been up to
- Objective Dem - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 2:51 pm:
To me this tape is a smoking gun. It is not just Levine’s words versus Cellini; it is Cellini’s own words and actions. Correct me if I’m wrong, but what I read indicates:
Cellini admitting that he told Rosenberg that he needed to deal with Rezko.
Levine indicating that Rosenberg would be walking away from the money if he did not deal with Rezko. Cellini laughs and doesn’t disagree.
Cellini saying the conversation made Rosenberg ill. Indicating that he knew the request to deal with Rezko was not a normal acceptable request, but something so negative that a tough and savvy businessman was made ill.
Its not part of the tape, but Rosenberg took Cellini’s request as extortion. And again Rosenberg isn’t some naive fellow who just fell off the turnip truck.
- Sue - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 3:00 pm:
Objective Dan- you have hit the nail on the head- the tape will allow the Government to prove the necessary criminal intent to accompany the acts taken by Cellini- with the right jury instruction the jury will have what it needs to convict- but God only knows if they will
- kermit - Friday, Oct 14, 11 @ 4:00 pm:
I think it’s interesting that Levine was not allowed to wear a wire on Cellini in the beginning because he had a lawyer when working on the TRS board…Does anyone know about that law? and When was Levine allowed to start wearing a wire on Cellini?