Charles Hannon testifies he's president of the elite Adventurers Club, having traveled to dozens of exotic locations like Egypt and Russia. He walks us through his life of wealth, beginning with his "spectacular home" that even has a name "Casa del Lago," which is perched on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan in Winnetka. It's also the infamous location where Tony Rezko first met the star witness in his case, Stuart Levine.
The 72-year-old says when Gov. Blagojevich took office, Rezko told him he could have a job of his choosing with the state.
"Did you really want to find a job at 69?" Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy asked.
"I started climbing mountains at 65," Hannon said, in a deep baritone voice.
More to the point, Hannon testifies that Rezko thought up a no-work contract where Hannon would make $80,000.
Hannon was to get a cut of money from JER Partners, which had business pending before the state. (We heard a great deal about JER over the last two days).
Hannon even created a corporation, Emerald Star International, just so he could collect the money.
Hannon said he didn't feel comfortable handling the transaction himself so he directed his off-shore lawyers to handle it, saying he had “utmost confidence in their integrity.”
Ultimately, JER balked at the request to pay a consultant it didn't know.
Hannon didn't want a job, he wanted free money and lots of it,you can do that at any age.
Ms. Korecki: assuming you are interested in the truth and responsible journalism as opposed to parroting the Feds' case, please read Levine's indictment and your own paper's stories. There is more to the JER story than "balked at the request."