Blagojevich fund-raiser Rezko indicted

The AP reports:

A top adviser and fund-raiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich has been indicted on charges of scheming to collect "millions of dollars in undisclosed kickbacks" involving the Illinois Teachers Retirement System, federal prosecutors disclosed Wednesday.

Businessman Antoin "Tony" Rezko was charged in the federal indictment with operating a fraud scheme along with millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine and other insiders.

The indictment was unsealed Wednesday morning. U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald was to announce details at a news conference scheduled for 1 p.m.

The indictment said that Rezko, Levine and others schemed to get financial benefits for themselves in the form of kickbacks from consultants who represented those seeking business from the pension plan.


Levine and two other men including Joseph Cari, a former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, had already been charged.

Can the Democrats in Illinois not take a hit in November? Here's more on Rezko, notice the mention of Barak Obama.