Politics

Rezko Trial Witness Details Drug Use, Wiretapping

Government's Star Witness, Stuart Levine, Continues Testimony

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Accused political insider and fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko's lawyer is still zeroing in on drug use by the government's star witness.

CBS 2's Mike Parker reports the defense is trying to discredit Stuart Levine as a coked-up liar.

Meanwhile, the name of former Ald. Ed Vrdolyak came up in testimony.

Once again, Rezko defense attorney Joe Duffy went after chief witness Levine's memory and his credibility. He pumped Levine about his decades-long drug habit. Levine admitted that his drug parties with male friends occurred not only at Lincolnwood's Purple Hotel, but at upscale locations like the Drake and Fairmont hotels.

About his drug preferences, Levine told the jury, "Cocaine made me jittery and nervous. Crystal methamphetamine did not."

Crystal meth, he said, gave him a "more euphoric feeling."

Asked if his drug use at his plush Hancock Center office was known to his secretary, Levine declared, "If you could hear me through a door or a wall, I'm amazed at the loudness of my snorting."

Question from Duffy: "Are you trying minimize your drug use to the jury?"

Levine: "No sir. I'm trying to do what I am required to do -- tell the truth."

During his testimony, Levine also provided a window into the shape of the government's pending corruption case against Vrdolyak, a former candidate for mayor. Levine said he wore a wire and made what he called "lot of recordings" of Vrdolyak and himself over a number of months.

Duffy asked, "Did you engage in any recordings with Mr. Rezko?"

Levine: "No, sir."

Duffy: "Were you ever asked by the government?"

Levine: "No, sir."

Levine also testified that he has been using Xanax, a prescription anti-anxiety drug, and that he had taken it Monday, prior to taking the witness stand.

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