Star Rezko witness says he paid Vrdolyak bribes

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

It didn’t take long for the prosecution’s star witness, Stuart Levine, to drop bombshells in Tony Rezko’s corruption trial.

Within minutes of the start of Levine’s testimony late this afternoon, the Highland Park businessman disclosed he paid former Chicago Ald. Edward R. Vrdolyak bribes dating back to the 1980s to win government contracts for clients.


Levine also began to detail the 100-plus sessions with the government in which he provided information about Rezko, a former campaign fund-raiser for Gov. Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

Shortly after he began cooperating in January 2006, Levine said he lied to the government about Vrdolyak and quickly learned his lesson after he was caught not telling the truth.

“I tried to protect him,” Levine said of the former 10th Ward alderman.

Levine then explained he used Vrdolyak in a bribe scheme as he sought government contracts for companies Levine represented.

Those contracts included a deal with the Chicago Board of Education to get a dental services contract and with a postal workers’ union to net HMO business for a company he co-owned.

Levine also spoke of handing out bribes to help his clients win contracts to supply tires to the city of Chicago Streets and Sanitation Department and school-bus services to the Chicago Board of Education. He did not say who those bribes were paid to.

This is very interesting.Alderman Vrdolyak worked very closely with Alderman Roti(the high ranking patronage boss of the Chicago Mob).