Arrest Warrant Issued for Rezko Over Casino Gambling Debts

By Jeralyn, Section Corruption Cases
Posted on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:21:49 PM EST
Tags: Tony Rezko (all tags)

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Whatever the jury decides in the Chicago trial of Tony Rezko, his problems aren't over. A Nevada judge has issued a felony arrest warrant for him as a result of his alleged failure to pay gambling debts.

Antoin “Tony” Rezko, who is standing trial on federal corruption charges in Chicago, is wanted in Las Vegas for failing to pay $472,275 in gambling debts to Caesars Palace and Bally’s and related processing fees to the Clark County district attorney’s office.

The total unpaid Strip bill comes to more than $800,000, however, because the Bellagio obtained a judgment of default against Rezko a year ago for not repaying $331,000 in gambling markers.

More...

The warrants were issued a few weeks ago.

Rezko was charged in a criminal complaint in Las Vegas on May 13 with two counts of fraud stemming from $250,000 in gambling debts at Caesars Palace and $200,000 in markers at Bally’s.

At Caesars, between March 25 and July 14, 2006 Rezko cashed a $195,000 personal check that came back for insufficient funds and was given $55,000 in markers on four other occasions, according to the complaint. He also was given four markers totaling $200,000 on July 13, 2006, at Bally’s, the complaint said.

Records show that Rezko made two restitution payments through the district attorney’s office of $7,500 each on Oct. 24 and another payment of $7,500 on Dec. 7. No additional payments were made.

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Arrest Warrant Issued for Rezko Over Casino Gambling Debts | 32 comments (32 topical)

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how does a Casino let you do that? (5.00 / 1) (#3)
by Salo on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:34:07 PM EST

surely you need the chips or a secured deposit for gambling on that level?

You and I need chips (5.00 / 3) (#5)
by dianem on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:35:38 PM EST

The truly wealthy get credit.


If you are a high roller and have previously (5.00 / 2) (#13)
by PssttCmere08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:46:17 PM EST

paid off your debts, it appears that casinos will be pretty liberal with the money, i.e., markers, etc.

I live in Vegas and the penny slots are as good as it gets for me... :)


: The casinos can't lose really.... (none / 0) (#30)
by kdog on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:39:32 PM EST

because odds are the guy getting the marker will lose the whole marker back to the casino. So the casino isn't out any real cash, they get it right back, and back again when they collect the marker. It's smart business for them.

Something is waiting in the wings (5.00 / 2) (#4)
by dianem on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:35:06 PM EST

We've experiened the Republican Party tactics before. I have no idea why so many people think that Obama is sqeaky clean when the primary - which has not been all that negative - has already exposed some serious flaws. He's running on judgement and character, yes his judgement about people has been poor and his character has been tarnished by his attacks on Clinton and his willingness to stand by while others attack in his name. At some point the magic is going to fade, and I'm absolutely certain that the right is waiting in the wings with attacks to play into his weaknesses.

its not that he's clean (5.00 / 0) (#7)
by Edgar08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:39:44 PM EST

the assumption is the media will give him a pass on the dirt.

I wonder why they would do that!


They were tiptoeing around issues... (5.00 / 1) (#26)
by dianem on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:48:52 PM EST

Until Wright, because they were afraid of violating social rules on race. Most pundits are white men, and they really don't want to lose their job because they say the wrong thing. Sexism seems to be okay, racism is not, and nobody was quite sure where to draw the line. Early on, Obama's campaign established that the line was going to be drawn in unexpected places (who knew that "shuck and jive" or discussing a candidates past drug use was racist? Or mentioning that Johnson helped pass the Civil Rights Act?). Wright broke that barrier, since he forced Obama to deal with race directly, which opened him up to all kinds of criticism without pundits having to fear that they were crossing lines. They were insulated from criticism because Wright neutralized the race card.


Oh (none / 0) (#34)
by Edgar08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 05:44:50 PM EST

Race is a factor I guess.


I think it was (5.00 / 1) (#36)
by dianem on Thu May 29, 2008 at 06:23:20 PM EST

That wasn't all, and I hope I didn't imply it was, but early in the game Obama's campaign established ground rules that said that anybody who attacked them could be called out as racist or race-baiting. The Cuomo remarks and criticism of Clinton's comments on Johnson set a very low bar for racism. Nobody knew just how far they could go, and there have been some memorable episodes of people losing jobs lately because they crossed lines that they really should not have crossed. Everybody who opened their mouth to support Clinton or criticize Obama had to ask themselves "Is this racist? Could it possibly be interpreted as racist?". It was easier to just say good things about Obama and accept the kudos of the left than it was to criticize him and risk being attacked.


I agree (5.00 / 1) (#37)
by Edgar08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 06:30:52 PM EST

With all of that.


I thought you were being snarky (none / 0) (#38)
by dianem on Thu May 29, 2008 at 06:41:35 PM EST

I need to learn to be more trusting. Posting on Salon as a Clinton supporter can be a frustrating experience.


: Posting anywhere as a Clinton supporter (none / 0) (#39)
by PaintyKat on Sat May 31, 2008 at 12:25:01 PM EST

can be frustrating.

This is all drip, drip, drip (5.00 / 2) (#6)
by zfran on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:36:33 PM EST

This puts Rezko's name back in the news, if they pick it up, along with Father Mike and who knows what's next, but let's get Hillary out because she's evil!!!Sorry, needed to vent some.

: Clinton already is out (none / 0) (#8)
by Edgar08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:42:03 PM EST

effectively. According to some.

: Feel better? We all need to vent about now. (none / 0) (#21)
by PssttCmere08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:23:30 PM EST

They still don't have a verdict in the Rezko case...maybe he is spilling his guts in a back room. Let's wait and see.

Obama connection? (5.00 / 2) (#10)
by Stellaaa on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:44:26 PM EST

Question here is from January a TL post

As an Illinois state senator, Obama reportedly questioned the use of gaming as a tool for economic development in his state. In 1999, he voted against a bill that expanded gaming there, while in 2003 he voted for a bill supported by the gaming industry that loosened regulations.

Makes ya think...I know I know.

Folks...Obama did not know. (5.00 / 2) (#12)
by Stellaaa on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:45:35 PM EST

C'mon. He did not know about Wright, did not know about Rezko. Yikes, to think judgement is the advantage.

: I guess what obama actually knows could (none / 0) (#29)
by PssttCmere08 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:23:45 PM EST

fill a matchbox...
btw...saw you on TX's site...

Let the chips fall (5.00 / 1) (#15)
by txpolitico67 on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:55:59 PM EST

where they may. I don't care about Rezko so much as I care about Obama's lack of everything.

How I WISH that was the main focus. The 527s will take care of the Church of the Poison Mind and his cast of characters. If the Dems/HRC supporters would push the "what have u done while u have been in Senate" scenario, that would be the winning way.

Policy. HRC wins there hands down.

Too bad he didn't just give (5.00 / 0) (#27)
by ruffian on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:04:36 PM EST

the casino the title to that lot next door to Obama's.

Non-Story (none / 0) (#14)
by Panhandle on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:48:34 PM EST

This story has A) nothing to do with politics, and B) nothing to do with Obama. Some schumck's gambling debt is not really news at all.

Except that this is technically a legal blog... (5.00 / 2) (#16)
by Maria Garcia on Thu May 29, 2008 at 01:56:55 PM EST

...so yeah, normally this type of story would be covered.


Valid point (none / 0) (#17)
by Panhandle on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:02:16 PM EST

it is technically a crime-related political news story, but my point was it doesn't really have any impact on anyone except for Rezko.


But my point is that.... (5.00 / 1) (#18)
by Maria Garcia on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:09:09 PM EST

...Jeralyn would probably have posted about it because Rezko is an interesting figure with or without Obama as he figures into ongoing corruption cases in Chicago. And if you look carefully you see that Jeralyn has tagged the story as such. It is not tagged as an election 2008 story so if you aren't interested in corruption cases or figures therein, you should have probably skipped this thread.


I've been following the legal case since the onset (5.00 / 1) (#25)
by Jeralyn on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:35:54 PM EST

have said it doesn't impact Obama -- I also followed former Gov. Ryan's. You are new here, new users are limited to 10 comments in 24 hours.


: I remember us discussing.... (none / 0) (#31)
by kdog on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:40:46 PM EST

Bill Bennet's one-arm bandit addiction when that hit the news a while back as well.

Where's Rick? (none / 0) (#28)
by mattt on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:19:04 PM EST

Plenty of time for Rezko, but if there has been any notice here that McCain's staffers have been questioned in the Rick Renzi investigation, I missed it.


MSNBC (none / 0) (#19)
by lgm on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:13:14 PM EST

Maybe Rezko or even Obama will spend a day as worst person in the world. Don't hold your breath.

If Rezko is convicted (none / 0) (#24)
by LoisInCo on Thu May 29, 2008 at 02:29:27 PM EST

Obama will have to pledge not to commute or pardon him I would imagine.

What is going on with these gambling debts? (none / 0) (#32)
by OxyCon on Thu May 29, 2008 at 03:52:14 PM EST

I've noticed within the past few weeks that the casinos are really going after gambler debt and it seems as though the Justice Department is behind the enforcement. Something seems out of whack to me. "Pacman" Jones and Charles Barkley were both recently in the news having had the law crack down on them as the casino's enforcers.

: The price of gas must be wiping them out. (none / 0) (#33)
by Salo on Thu May 29, 2008 at 04:16:50 PM EST

Wait, that's pandering.

this just keeps getting better (none / 0) (#35)
by cpinva on Thu May 29, 2008 at 05:48:40 PM EST

and better. sen. obama is beginning to sound like the germans and poles, who lived right near the concentration camps, yet knew nothing.

and please don't jump on me, i'm not suggesting he's a secret nazi or anything, just that his ignorance about the activities and comments of his "known associates" strikes me as eerily similar. "i know nothing, i see nothing"

mom and dad always said "you're known by the company you keep."

the republicans are going to have a field day with this.

jeralyn, if you or BTD feel that i have violated the posting, rules, i accept that. not that you need my permission or anything.