- Exclusive Chicago Sun-Times Report- FBI Mole Taped Rezko: Obama and Blagojevich Visited?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

For the first time, the FBI "mole" who's expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking.

In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, John Thomas said his life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.


"Now," Thomas said, "all I want is a little bit of peace."

Thomas wouldn't discuss details of his work for the FBI.

But sources said that, for more than two years when he was giving information to agents, Thomas provided a fly-on-the-wall look inside Rezko's real estate operations and his desperate attempts to keep his projects afloat.

Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash. Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing.

Thomas had good reason to help. He hopes to get probation for his own felony fraud conviction in a New York case. And he said he wants to redeem himself in the eyes of business associates and his family.

Sources said Thomas helped investigators build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005.

In one case, sources said, Thomas told authorities he saw a Rezmar employee pass an envelope with a visible wad of bills to an unidentified Blagojevich aide.

Both politicians relied on Rezko for fund-raising connections. Obama was in the thick of his successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Now in the glare of a presidential campaign, Obama has donated to charity $157,835 from contributions to his Senate campaign that he has linked to Rezko.

In a corruption case set for trial next month, Rezko is accused of seeking campaign contributions for Blagojevich and kickbacks from companies seeking state pension business.

At 45, Thomas is a curious figure at the heart of a scandal that has reached into presidential politics.

He is prominent in commercial real estate circles in Chicago, even after pleading guilty in 2004 to felony fraud in New York.

Sources said the government had him wear a hidden wire to record conversations with a Chicago alderman -- but that he did not record Blagojevich or Obama.

Thomas said his work on the Rezko case is "essentially done."

He spoke of having turned government informer to reduce the penalties for his crimes and help rebuild his life and career.

"I was always a very talented real estate person," Thomas said. "But, when I became part of a difficult situation, I made the wrong decisions."

According to an FBI affidavit, those "wrong decisions" included Thomas' drawing more than $350,000 from his customers' credit cards while he was running a billboard leasing business in Manhattan in the late 1990s. He also charged more than $140,000 to an American Express business account he obtained using his father's Social Security number.

Afterward, Thomas, born Bernard Barton Jr., legally changed his name.
Goal was to cut prison term

Discussing what happened in New York, Thomas said he was trying to meet his payroll at a time the company had grown too fast.

According to sources, that was where Thomas first made contact with the FBI and the Justice Department in a move to reduce the likely 15- to 21-month prison term he'd get for fraud.

At the time, in the late 1990s, organized-crime families in New York were trying to muscle into the billboard business. Sources said Thomas helped federal prosecutors.

Relocating to Chicago in 2000, he built a real estate brokerage business. He did it with aggressive cold-calling, managing to connect sellers with buyers and positioning himself as an investor in several downtown deals. Also as part of his business, he secured financing for a commission.

Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19 on the New York charges. But his sentencing is likely to be delayed, perhaps for a year, while the Justice Department has him testify in the second of two trials Rezko faces -- that one involving allegations of business fraud. Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven, a prosecutor on both the Thomas and Rezko cases, declined to comment.

Thomas' real estate activities have given him many contacts in a business that runs on them. But some of his more ambitious development deals have failed amid a flurry of lawsuits. In one case, Thomas is suing a former partner, accusing him of stealing money from renovations for an office building they owned at 318 W. Adams, in the shadow of Sears Tower. A planned conversion to office condominiums at his building has been scrapped.

And Thomas is trading lawsuits with partners in a failed purchase of the 105 W. Adams building. A venture he formed with Mahru to buy a Miami building ended in bankruptcy.
'I'm always working'

Still, Thomas said his business prospects are strong now that he has a startup company -- Red Rock Capital Realty -- that specializes in real estate consulting.

People he has done business with said he doesn't hide his background. Some joke that Thomas even introduces himself as a convicted felon.

"All these brokers, they come in at 10 and leave at 5," Thomas said. "I come in at 7 and leave at 7 at night. I'm always working."

Chicago, he said, "is a wonderful place to do this kind of business. It is the most forgiving."

Thomas said he has repaid his father and hopes to make amends for the sake of his wife and their young child.

He wants, he said, to change. That includes gastric-bypass surgery he had 1½ years ago. Since then, he has lost more than 130 pounds from a frame that once tipped the scales at 365.

On the back of his business card, Thomas expresses his thoughts on his situation.

In eight languages, the card reads: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

Rezko's trial starts on March 3.Obama has some explaining to do.