Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A former chief fundraiser for ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich told a police officer before he died that he overdosed on a prescription drug, the mayor of the south Chicago suburb of Country Club Hills said Sunday.

Mayor Dwight Welch did not say what drug Christopher Kelly told police he ingested, but he said authorities found a variety of drugs in Kelly's vehicle. Police are not saying whether illegal drugs were found in the vehicle along with over-the-counter and prescription drugs.

Kelly, 51, died Saturday at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, and Welch said police are investigating the death as suicide.

The results of a Sunday autopsy are pending further studies, the medical examiner's office said.

Welch also said police want to interview Clarissa Flores-Buhelos, 30, who identified herself as Kelly's girlfriend and told police she drove him to Oak Forest Hospital Friday night after finding him slumped over the steering wheel of his Cadillac Escalade at a Country Club Hills lumber yard.

Welch said there are storage facilities on site at the lumber yard, mostly for boats and cars. He said it is not clear if Kelly rented a storage space there.

Flores-Buhelos, of Chicago, told investigators Kelly text-messaged her to come to the lumber yard because he was feeling ill, Welch said. He also said that she was not cooperating with police.

But her attorney, Terry Gillespie angrily said Flores-Buhelos had already arranged to meet with police Monday. "Apparently the mayor was too busy giving news conferences" to check with his police department to confirm Monday's meeting, Gillespie said.

Gillespie said Flores-Buhelos "has nothing to hide" and has offered her full cooperation. "She never, ever, ever refused to cooperate."

Welch portrayed her "as if she's a criminal. This girl's best friend in life just died hours before. He's [the mayor] basically [implying] she did something wrong. She's got nothing to hide and she's devastated by the whole thing."

"The mayor's a jackass. You can print that," Gillespie said.

Detectives are also looking to speak with a man who turned up at Oak Forest Hospital, identified himself as Michael Allen and asked to pick up the Escalade, but was turned away by security, Welch said.

Kelly arrived at the hospital at 11:15 p.m. Friday.

Country Club Hills Police were notified at 3:02 a.m. Saturday that Kelly was at Oak Forest Hospital. While there, and sitting up, Kelly talked with a police officer and indicated he had attempted suicide.

Mayor Welch said that Kelly also told the officer that he recently had surgery on his "private parts" and was taking pain medication for that procedure.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli learned from a source that Kelly was treated at Oak Forest Hospital by an internal medicine doctor, who advised police that at one point Saturday morning that "Kelly was OK and needed to rest."

An emergency room doctor had Kelly transported to Stroger Hospital at 4:15 a.m. Reports indicate that Oak Forest does not have a trauma unit and transferred Kelly via ambulance to Stroger for further treatment at approximately 5 a.m. He was pronounced dead Saturday at 10:46 a.m.

Chicago Police were notified of the death in order to facilitate transportation to the medical examiner's office, but the Country Club Hills Police Department is conducting a death investigation, according to a Chicago Police release.

Mayor Welch says the investigation is ongoing, but he does believe a third party was involved based on information that Flores-Buhelos provided, namely that she drove Kelly to the hospital in his Escalade from the lumber yard. No other vehicle was found in the lumber yard parking lot which indicates that a third party may have driven Flores-Buhelos to that location in Country Club Hills.

Kelly, who raised millions of dollars for Blagojevich's campaigns, was days away from having to report to federal prison to begin serving a three-year sentence for tax fraud. He also was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to another fraud charge.

Kelly had pleaded not guilty to charges included in a federal indictment alleging Blagojevich sought to sell or trade President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich has denied wrongdoing.

In a statement through his publicist, Blagojevich said: "I am deeply saddened to hear that Chris has died. My heart goes out to his wife Carmen, his three daughters Grace, Jacqueline and Claire and his entire family. They are in our prayers."

Allan A. Ackerman, a member of Blagojevich's legal defense team, told the Associated Press that he doubts Kelly's death "will have any impact on the government's case at all."

Kelly's lawyer, Michael Monico, said late Saturday that he could not answer any questions about his client's death.

Spokesmen from the FBI and U.S. attorney's office declined comment.

CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli, the Associated Press and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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