By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

It was a hard week for the man whose testimony authorities hope will bring down Tony Rezko.

Attorney Stuart P. Levine, the star witness at Rezko’s corruption trial, confessed last week that he regularly participated in all-day drug parties in Springfield and other locations, including suburban Chicago.
 He added, without going into detail, that the drug parties were “all-male.”

Levine said he attended such parties at hotels in Springfield and other cities while lying to his family and business associates about his use of drugs, which he said began in the 1970s and ended in early 2004 when FBI agents investigating corruption in state government visited him.



Levine testified that he would pay $1,000 to snort both crystal methamphetamine and kaetamine, also known as Special K, drugs that made him feel “euphoric” and lowered inhibitions.


Levine testified that he would often visit the now-closed “Purple Hotel” in suburban Lincolnwood in the morning and go home to his family in the evening. In addition to taking drugs at parties, he said, he snorted them at his office in the John Hancock building.

 He said he only rarely used them at home.



Levine has not revealed who the other people at the all-male parties were.

U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve has barred any testimony concerning Levine’s “personal social life,” which she said would be too prejudicial if presented to the jury. Defense attorneys have described it as Levine’s “secret life.”

The Purple Hotel—first a Hyatt, then both a Radisson and a Ramada—was an independent hotel when it closed in January 2007 after a severe mold infestation.

Rezko, 52, is charged with scheming with Levine to pressure kickbacks out of money management firms seeking to invest assets of the $30-billion Illinois Teachers Retirement System.

 He and Levine also allegedly schemed to split a $1-million bribe from a contractor who wanted state approval for construction of a hospital.


Rezko is charged with using his political influence with Blagojevich’s administration to launch both of the alleged schemes.

 The trial has been closely watched in the political world because Rezko has been a key fundraiser for Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Sen. Barack Obama. Neither of the officials is accused of any wrongdoing in the case.


Levine, 62, has pleaded guilty and agreed to take the stand as the government’s star witness in return for a lenient 67-month prison term.
 Levine would likely face life in prison were he convicted of all he has been accused of, according to the Chicago Tribune.

He testified that he would regularly withdraw cash from the bank for drugs and other expenses and estimated that between 2000 and early 2004 his withdrawals totaled “in excess of $1 million.”

Under cross-examination from Rezko’s attorney April 3, Levine admitted even further wrongdoing.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, Levine had not worked a regular job since 1976, despite amassing considerable wealth. Instead, he lived off of a relative and friend, Ted Tannebaum, who entrusted Levine with administering a $100-million fortune for Tannebaum’s children. Levine admitted that he stole $2 million from them.

The Tribune further reported that Levine used many of the stolen funds for charitable contributions that brought with them an air of respectability. The program for a 2003 dinner thrown by Friends of the Israel Defense Forces honoring Levine was entered into evidence, and featured congratulatory notes from Mayor Richard Daley, Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Reps. Rahm Emanuel and Jan Schakowsky and U.S. Senators Dick Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald. Tommy Thompson, then the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, was guest speaker.

Rezko’s attorneys have suggested that Levine is lying about many of his dealings with Rezko, and that several years of drug and alcohol abuse have likely clouded his memory.