Politics

Rezko Trial Witness Tells Of All-Night Drug Binges

Stuart Levine Said Tony Rezko Scoffed At Governor's 2003 Anti-Corruption Policy

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The star witness against political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko is baring his soul on the stand.

Stuart Levine painted a sordid picture of his own wild partying and drug use in Federal court Monday.

As CBS 2's Mike Parker reports, it's now an abandoned wreck, but during the late 1990s and into this decade, Levine says the Purple Hotel in Lincolnwood was the scene of all night drug parties with as many as five unidentified male friends.

Levine -- who says he schemed with Rezko to extort millions of dollars from businesses who wanted state contracts -- told the jury about his expensive drug habits.

In addition to the Lincolnwood hotel, Levine said he partied with his friends in Springfield hotels, and that occasionally he did drugs in his plush offices in the Hancock Building.

How bad was his habit? According to Levine he spent "in excess of a million dollars" between 2000 and 2004. The drugs included crystal methamphetamine, the animal tranquilizer ketamine -- also known as "Special K" -- cocaine and ecstasy.

Levine said he stopped using after the FBI told him he was under investigation for other crimes.

"I was afraid of being caught," Levine said.

He also testified that Rezko scoffed at the new ethics policy announced in 2003 by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

During a conversation, Levine said Rezko told him, "Nobody of consequence was going to pay any attention to the ethics ordinance. It was there, just for show."

When Rezko's lawyers get their chance to cross examine Levine, they're expected to use his admitted drug abuse to call his memory, even his truthfulness, into question.

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