Rezko Operation Shocker:Vrdolyak to plead guilty

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

A federal judge says a former Chicago politician who led white aldermen in a spectacular feud with the city's first black mayor 25 years ago will plead guilty to a kickback scheme.

U.S. District Judge Milton Shadur made that announcement just as former alderman Edward Vrdolyak's trial was supposed to get under way Monday. The judge says the 71-year-old has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

The one-time Cook County Democratic chairman is accused of arranging to get a kickback for attorney Stuart Levine in the sale of a piece of property for $15 million.

The charges stem from the same investigation that led to the fraud conviction of influence peddler Tony Rezko, the political fundraiser who helped to bankroll the campaigns of Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama.

Operation Board Games is on a roll.