The Tylenol Mafia Convicts their Patsy
Court documents from James Lewis's parole hearing appeal show that what a jury could not do, was done easily within the corrupt Illinois Political and and Federal Judicial Systems.
James Lewis 1991 Parole Hearing Appeal:
1. Can evidence that was known by investigative agencies but not by the United States Parole Commission ("the Commission") at the time of a prisoner's initial parole determination be considered "new information" sufficient for the Commission to reopen the prisoner's case under 28 C.F.R. § 2.28(f)?
2. Once a prisoner's case is reopened, can the Commission consider information in a sentencing transcript where
A. the transcript, though previously unseen by the Commission, was not the basis for reopening;
B. the information pertains to a crime for which the prisoner was not charged but which was related to the crime for which he was convicted; and
C. the district judge declined to consider the information at sentencing?
3. Was the district judge's statement during sentencing that there was not a "shred of evidence" that the Petitioner-Appellant (Lewis) committed the Tylenol murders merely a reiteration of his assurance that he was not going to consider any evidence of that crime since Lewis was not so charged, rather than a finding on the merits of such an allegation pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 32(c)(3)(D)(i)?
4. Did the Commission act within its discretion in determining that Lewis committed murder by lacing Tylenol capsules with cyanide?
We answer all of these questions in the affirmative.
There is no question that Lewis could not - and did not - carry out the Tylenol murders. It seems implausible that the players involved in the prosecution really believed James Lewis was the Tylenol Killer.
Even the judge who sentenced Lewis, said:
There was not a "shred of evidence" that the Petitioner-Appellant (Lewis) committed the Tylenol murders.
Nevertheless, once James Thompson, Jeremy Margolis, Dan Webb, Tyrone Fahner, and George Ryan put Lewis behind bars, they used their political clout to convict him in the court of public opinion for the Tylenol muders. During Lewis's parole hearing he was not allowed to introduce evidence to refute the parole boards baseless claims and irrational conclusions. There was no logic or physical evidence interjected into the proceedings, and despite the fact that it was impossible for Lewis to have been involved in the Tylenol tamperings, the parole board decided to make Lewis the Tylenol killer.
The parole board rejected every one of Lewis's arguments and accepted every singe argument from the prosecution and then decided Lewis was guilty of murder when he'd only been charged with and gone on trial for extortion. The basis for the parole board's decision were unsubstatiated statements made by Dan Webb during the trial, which the judge determined were inadmissable.
The approved theory of the Tylenol murders required a patsy. So at the direction of J&J CEO James Burke and his corporate yes men, the corrupt Chicago power-brokers fulfilled the mandate of the Tylenol murders cover-up.
TYLENOL MAFIA AFFILATIONS
James Thompson says bribery will be around "as long as man is on the face of the earth."
I guess that's true; as long as men like James Thompson are on the face of the earth.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
TYRONE FAHNER
FAHNER SHUNNED politics until he was appointed attorney general in July 1980 by Gov. James Thompson to succeed the former Republican attorney general, William Scott, sentenced to prison after his conviction for federal income tax evasion.
The attorney general's relationship with Thompson goes back to 1971, when Thompson, then U.S. attorney in Chicago, hired Fahner as an assistant U.S. attorney. Fahner also served Thompson as state law enforcement director from 1977 to 1979, where he reorganized the agency.
THE THOMPSON FAMILY
Thompson, in his fourth year as Governor, sought greater control of Illinois politics and the state's piggy bank; for himself and for the family. To control the political and financial machinery of Illinois, Thompson would need to put associates loyal to the family in key positions at all levels of Illinois government and on all important committees. In 1980, Thompson unilaterally implemented an executive order that dramatically increased his power over Illinois politics and finances.
On November 12 1980, Thompson, by his executive order, instituted a hiring freeze for all state agencies, boards, bureaus, and commissions under his control as governor. The order affected approximately 60,000 state positions. These positions could only be filled if the candidates were first approved by an office created by Thompson, the Governor's Office of Personnel. The practice essentially consisted of denying the hiring of persons not affiliated with the Republican Party by conducting inquiries into past Republican Party affiliation and possible future pledges of loyalty.
Thompson also sought to control the media, which he did with great success during the 1982 Tylenol murders investigation. Thomson was so succesful in gaining loyalty from his friends in the media that upon leaving the Governors mansion he was appointed to the board of directors at Hollinger International, the media conglomerate and owner of The Chicago Sun Times, founded by Conrad Black.
Thompson, the man responsible for ensuring the company's financial records were accurate and that the company complied with SEC regulations, testified in court that when he reviewed the company's financials, he only skimmed Holinger's financial statements.
Governor Thompson and his "made" U.S. Attorneys, political fixers, and associates set themselves up during Thompson's 14-year reign as governor to profit from three industries that were big moneymakers for the Outfit; Construction, Managed Health Care, and Gambling.
After Thompson signed into law a bill that authorized riverboat gambling, the state handed out 10 riverboat gambling licenses and members of the "Thompson family" were placed in key position with oversight responsibility for Casinos and Riverboats.
The gambling houses and street games that were controlled by the outfit, rapidly lost business to the growing "legitimate" gambling houses and riverboats licensed by the state of Illinois.
THOMPSON FAMILY ASSOCIATE - WILLIAM CELLINI
William Cellini entered politics when he was was elected Springfield's commissioner of streets and public improvements. By age 35 he became transportation czar in Governor Richard Ogilvie's Cabinet. After leaving state government, he became an influential fundraiser and powerful lobbyist who headed up the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association.
During Thompson's administration, Cellini won State contracts worth tens of millions of dollars, and received sweetheart loans that were funded by the state.
Cellini developed and leased six major office buildings to the state starting in 1979, becoming one of state government's biggest landlords. At one point, the state paid $10 million a year to lease Cellini's buildings.
In 1982 Governor Thompson and state Treasurer Jerome Cosentino offered a state loan program under the auspices of a real estate investment plan. $118 million was given to 18 hotels, offices and shopping centers just before Thompson's November re-election. The loans were made to politically connected developers.
Cellini, through his President Lincoln Hotel Corporation, borrowed $15 million from the State loan program to build a luxury hotel in downtown Springfield. No individual was supposed to receive more than one loan from the state program, but Cellini was a partner in another group that received $18.2 million from the program to build a new office building.
Almost immediately, Cellini fell behind on payments for his Springfield hotel loan. Thompson and Cosentino renegotiated with Cellini in 1988 and cut the interest rate on the debt. The deal was renegotiated again in 1990 resulting in what the state treasurer in 2007, Alexi Giannoulias, would call "one of the worst deals the state has ever agreed to." The loan languished unpaid for 25 years, and in 2007 was declared to be in default.
- Cosentino pleaded guilty in 1992 to one count of bank fraud. Consentino admitted kiting millions of dollars in checks between accounts at Cosmopolitan National Bank and Cole Taylor Drovers Bank for his trucking company, Fast Motor Service Inc. The scheme to create phony balances in company checking accounts, which lasted a year during his second term as state treasurer, left Cosmopolitan holding the bag for $1.3 million in overdrafts.
Gambling
In 1990, one year before leaving office, Thompson signed into law a bill that authorized riverboat gambling; setting the stage for what would become a very profitable business for the Thomson family. The state handed out 10 riverboat gambling licenses just before Thompson left office.
The Illinois Gaming Board, responsible for awarding gambling licenses and for regulatory oversight of the Casinos and Riverboats, was filled with Thompson family associates and former members of the Tylenol task force. Some Thompson associates procured executive positions in privately held gambling companies, and several of Thompson's "made" former US Attorneys went on to represent gambling entities and defend mobsters who ran into trouble because of their involvement in the industry.
By the time Thompson left office, much of the revenue previously earned in outfit controlled gambling houses and street games, had shifted to the growing "legitimate" gambling houses and riverboats licensed by the state of Illinois.
As chairman of the Argosy Gaming Company, Cellini opened the state's first riverboat casino; Alton Belle. Cellini and his partners received their casino license from the Illinois Gaming Board two months before Thompson left the governor's office. When Argosy went public in 1993, Cellini sold some of his Argosy stock for a profit of $4.9 million. In 2004, a Pennsylvania company bought Argosy, and Cellini collected an estimated $63 million for his remaining shares.
Cellini acted as a lobbyist for his own firms and for several clients. Sometimes he worked alone; other times he lobbied with Robert Kjellander when Kjellander was national committeeman of the Illinois Republican Party and a former patronage director for Governor Thompson. Most lobbyists try to curry favor with legislators. But Cellini said that he didn't bother with legislators. Instead, he devoted his efforts to the governor's office and state agencies.
Among Cellini's lobbying clients was Chicago HMO.
In the same way the Outfit expanded its realm of control to Kansas, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and all areas west while garnering a significant piece of the action in Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Ohio; Thompson extended his power and influence nationally.
UNDER CONSTRUCTION
James "Big Jim" Thomson and a few of his Friends
James Thompson (2nd from left) with (left to right) Robert Georgine, Angelo Fosco and Edward Brabec.
Robert Georgine: In 1996, federal authorities questioned whether Georgine interfered in a union election. The Department of Labor filed suit to overturn the October 1995 presidential election in the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers. Part of the DOL lawsuit alleged that Georgine used BCTD funds and his position as president to support the re-election of the incumbent president. Georgine was cleared, but the investigation put a cloud over his final term in office at BCTD.
Although Georgine remained as president, chairman and CEO at ULLICO, he became caught up in a scandal with forced him to retire on May 8, 2003. He proposed a stock purchase deal to ULLICO's board of directors in which they would be able to buy ULLICO stock at a low price, then re-establish the stock price at a higher level. ULLICO would then repurchase their shares at that higher level, allowing them to reap millions in profits. After a lengthy scandal, Georgine was forced off the board and removed as CEO of ULLICO. Robert Georgine settled with ULLICO in 2005, repaying millions to the company. He now lives in retirement
Angelo Fosco: International President LABORERS INTERNATIONAL OF NORTH AMERICA (LABORERS) - A report prepared for the White House in 1978 states that this union has long been subject to organized crime control. The international president is Angelo Fosco, who succeeded to the office after the death of his father, Peter Fosco. Peter Fosco was the first ward committeeman of Chicago before he became an officer of the union. Peter Fosco's ties to organized crime go back to Al Capone. Angelo Fosco has followed in his father's footsteps. He is the tool of the crime syndicate. Major decisions regarding Laborers' union contracts are made by organized crime leaders, not Angelo Fosco. In Chicago Fosco follows the orders of Al Pilotto and Vincent Solano, two local union presidents who are also LCN lieutenants, and Joey Aiuppa, underboss of the Chicago syndicate.
In 1986, the President's Commission on Organized Crime spelled out some of LIUNA's seedy exploits. Fosco was indicted in 1981 in a case involving alleged benefit plan swindles. He was later acquitted.
Edward Brabec: Following the death of the CFL-IUC union president and the resignation of the Secretary-Treasurer, a special election was held in July of 1984. Edward Brabec, Business Manager of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130, was elected President and Robert Healey was elected Secretary-Treasurer of the CFL without opposition. President Brabec made "unity" the slogan and the goal of the Federation. Under Brabec'c leadership, the constitution and by-laws of the CFL were amended to make this office appointed instead of elective.
Thompson's 'team' leaves indelible mark
BY DAVE URBANEK
September 13, 1992
It was a diverse team of lawyers, pulled together in the early 1970s by the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. They came to Chicago from all over the state, with far different backgrounds. One was a graduate of Palatine High School, the son of a lawyer. Another grew up in Wheaton and Springfield and had been an IBM salesman. One hailed from the small downstate town of Bushnell and used to work in a hammer factory. One was a Latvian refugee who escaped the terrors of World War II with her mother and father.
And one was the son of a Chicago doctor who had a grade school dream of becoming president. His name was James R. Thompson. For them, things just clicked. Under the leadership of U.S. Attorney Thompson and his predecessor, William Bauer, the group amassed an impressive list of prosecutions, including more than 2,000 corrupt public officials.
They made headlines and names for themselves, And since then, under Thompson's patronage, many have gone on to remarkable careers in both public and private service. They have continued to make names for themselves. They've been federal judges, prosecutors, nationally known and respected attorneys, top assistants or advisors to the president of the United Stales.
"I love to talk about this," says liana Diamond Rovner, the Latvian refugee who, after leaving the U.S attorney's office, served as a deputy Illinois governor tinder Thompson and as a federal judge. Next month, she will take her place as the first woman to sit on the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. "Everyone worked night and day, six and seven days a week," Rovner recalled "It was just a wonderful time."
But have their successes been the result of talent? Or was it Thompson's clout? Both, legal scholars say. "I think clout is not enough to overcome inability," noted University of Illinois Law Professor Ronald Rotunda "These people had ability. It helps to know the right people, but you also need ability "
In the 20 years since they worked together in Chicago, Thompson's "Dream Team" has made its mark.
• Samuel K Skinner, the former IBM salesman who graduated from Wheaton Community High School, just left a tumultuous seven-month stint as White House chief of staff. Known as "The Master of Disaster" for his trouble-shooting of natural disasters and as "Sam the Hammer," Skinner served as U.S. attorney from 1975 until 1977, when Jimmy Carter took over the presidency and, with it, the right to make his own appointments. Skinner later served as Regional Transportation Authority chairman and U S, transportation secretary,
Skinner recently was named general chairman of the Republican National Committee after leaving Bush's staff Skinner's tenure as Bush's top aide was tarnished by a sharp drop in the president's support among voters, a decline blamed in part on Skinner's handling of the office. Rovner said Skinner takes the criticism in stride: "Sam is such a big person. He knows his strengths," she added. "It pretty much rolls off. When you've been though a lot, you just survive "
• Dan K Webb, the small-town guy from Bushnell, also followed Thompson as U.S. attorney from 1981 to 1985. In that job, he prosecuted James W Lewis, the man convicted of trying to extort $1 million from the makers of Tylenol capsules in the wake of the 1982 deaths of seven people who took cyanide-tainted capsules. He led prosecutions of Cook County judges caught in the Operation Greylord corruption investigation.
He oversaw prosecution in the Marquette 10 probe, which unearthed corruption in the Chicago Police Department. Webb — now in private practice with Winston & Strawn — unsuccessfully defended sports agent Lloyd Bloom against charges Bloom defrauded six universities by signing their scholarship players as clients.Anton Valukas, then U.S. attorney, prosecuted the case.
In 1990, Webb prosecuted President Reagan's former national security advisor, John Poindexter, for his role in the Iran-Contra scandal.
• Anton R. Valukas, the graduate of Palatine High, rose to become U.S. attorney from 1985 to 1989, overseeing investigations of the Chicago Board of Trade, of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and of corruption at Chicago City Hall.
Valukas also took on the notorious El Rukn street gang, successfully pressing racketeering and conspiracy charges against leaders of a gang that dominated Chicago's streets like no other gang in history. Last fall, Valukas, now a senior partner with Jenner & Block, was appointed outside counsel to a special committee set up to review procedures of two subsidiaries of the Midwest Stock Exchange.
• Tyrone C Fahner, a past director of the former state Department of Law Enforcement, was picked by Thompson in the early 1980s as Illinois Attorney General. In 1982, Fahner was propelled into the national spotlight as the chief investigator of the murders of seven Chicago and suburban people who took Tylenol capsules poisoned with cyanide. The capsules were hidden in bottles of the medication, some of which were purchased by the victims at stores in Arlington Heights and Elk Grove Village. He is now a partner with Mayer, Brown and Plat I.
And the list goes on. Bauer is now chief justice of the 7lh Circuit Court of Appeals Joel M. Flaum is a U S appellate justice Charles P. Kokoras and James F. Holderman are federal judges. James Montana is chief judge of the Illinois Court of Claims. Parrel "Tex" Griffin is a former Illinois Racing Board chairman, and Jeremy Margolis is a former director of the Illinois State Police. "The numbers speak for them themselves," noted University of Chicago law professor Michael W. McConnell. "That is an extraordinary
record "
Rovner added that at that lime, she had a feeling they all were going places. "It's like having a great child. You look around at the other kids when they're in school and you say, 'My kid is pretty smart. I wonder what his life will bring7'" Rovner said. "I recall thinking something like that. Everybody was pretty remarkable. I had no idea we'd all be fortunate." But aside from the successes of Thompson's U.S. attorney's office, the group also formed lasting friendships that continue to this day. "I'm talking very close," Rovner added. "It's like high school and college friends who stick together. Regular dinners, birthdays, holidays. It's not just business "
Members of the group, at the top of Chicago's cadre of lawyers, inevitably face off against one another in the courtroom. In 1983, Webb and attorney Michael Monico — a fellow assistant U.S. attorney under Thompson — faced off in the Tylenol case Webb prosecuted Lewis; Monico defended him.
After Webb lost to Valukas in the sports agents case, Webb turned around and hired Valukas' assistant to help him in the Poindexter trial. While this group's record of achievement is remarkable, observers of the political and legal arena say it's not unusual for U.S attorneys and their assistants across the country to scale the government or corporate ladders.
"I suspect that a United States attorney's office is a kind of springboard, alot of people move on to greater glory," said Jo Desha Lucas, a retired University of Chicago law professor. "There's an endless number of people who have used that springboard to better things." Scholars noted that former staff members of the 1970s U.S. Senate Watergate Committee, organized by attorney Sam Dash, have moved on to influential positions in government and business. Similarly, the federal prosecutors' offices in New York City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles have spawned well-known politicians and business leaders in those areas.
But the University of Chicago's McConnell said that even though the record of Thompson's team might not be unusual, the fact that it happened in Chicago is unusual. "The Northern District of Illinois has not traditionally been that strong an office," he said. "I think that Jim Thompson's tenure there helped make it one of the more prestigious U.S. attorney's offices nationwide. There were others, but he was the most significant"
Through it all, Thompson, now in private practice at Winston & Strawn, was the thread and spark plug for the group. His four terms as governor and the influence he wielded on the state and national levels pushed his colleagues to their fates. He recommended and lobbied for his friends and associates to assume his former job as U.S attorney. He recommended them for the federal bench. He was able to win cabinet seats for friends and associates and used appointments within his own power to elevate more than a few coworkers to top-level state positions.
And as she prepares to take her seat on the federal appellate court, Rovner admits that Thompson's patronage played a role in her success and that of her friends, but was not absolute
'I always maintain people need three things to be successful hard work, good fortune and good timing. You can control the hard work but the other two you can't," she said. "That was what was special about that office. Everyone helped everyone, each one with a strong ego. Yet, we all melded together."
Cellini indicted by federal grand jury in state corruption probe
OPERATION BOARD GAMES | Feds charge political power broker William Cellini with conspiring to shake down a Hollywood producer for $1.5 million for a Blagojevich campaign fund and talking about getting U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald fired
October 31, 2008
William Cellini, one of the most powerful men in Illinois politics, was charged Thursday in what authorities said was a shakedown scheme involving Gov. Blagojevich's campaign fund, dealing another blow to the embattled governor.
The 73-year-old Springfield lobbyist and businessman is accused of working with convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko and others to extort an investment firm into making a $1.5 million contribution to Blagojevich's campaign as a condition of getting state business.
The four-count federal indictment also alleges that Cellini "discussed the possibility" of getting U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald dumped from that post as a way to stop an investigation.
The grand jury that indicted Cellini is the same one investigating renovations of Blagojevich's North Side home, according to court documents. That work was done by a company run by Rezko, a former Blagojevich adviser and fund-raiser convicted in June of wide-ranging corruption involving state deals. He's now talking with prosecutors.
Sources said Rezko -- who hasn't finalized a deal for his cooperation -- provided information about the alleged extortion scheme.
Blagojevich has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Asked about the Cellini charges, Blagojevich spokesman Lucio Guerrero said, "The governor was not involved in the improper activities alleged in the indictment."
Cellini is a longtime Republican power broker and campaign fund-raiser for Republican and Democratic governors alike, including Blagojevich. Dubbed "the King of Clout" by a 1996 Chicago Sun-Times investigation, he was known as "the Pope" when it came to the sway he held with state pension investments, according to testimony at the Rezko trial.
In an investigation named Operation Board Games, Cellini is accused of conspiring with Rezko and Stuart Levine, then a state pension fund board member, to shake down Thomas Rosenberg, a Chicago businessman-turned-Hollywood producer of "Million Dollar Baby" who is a principal in Capri Capital, which was seeking to handle a $220 million investment for the pension board.
At the time, Cellini was working on behalf of Commonwealth Realty Advisors Inc., a real-estate asset firm that has gotten hundreds of millions of dollars of work from the state.
Prosecutors also accused Cellini of conspiring with Rezko in 2004 to get Fitzgerald dumped as a way to quash any investigation into their alleged wrongdoing -- allegations that surfaced at Rezko's trial.
Levine, a star witness against Rezko, testified that Cellini, Rezko and another Blagojevich adviser and fund-raiser, Chris Kelly, worked to shake down Rosenberg for campaign cash after learning Capri was set to land the $220 million deal. In Thursday's indictment, Kelly appears again as an unnamed and unindicted co-conspirator.
The alleged extortion attempt was first detailed by the Sun-Times in 2006.
Cellini was caught on secretly made tapes talking with Levine about the Rosenberg deal. In one tape played at Rezko's trial, Cellini was heard saying Blagojevich -- "the big guy" -- knew of the plot. In another, Cellini told Levine that Rosenberg had threatened to expose them. Prosecutors said Cellini and Levine backed off.
Rosenberg testified there was never any direct demand that he contribute to the Blagojevich campaign, but he said his $220 million deal was stalled after he refused to ante up.
"They made the consequences clear," Rosenberg testified.
While Rezko was convicted of other charges, the jury cleared him in the Rosenberg scheme. Cellini's lawyer, former U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb, noted that Thursday and said Cellini "is completely innocent of these charges."
"A stronger version of these same allegations was presented to the Rezko jury, and the jury sent a strong message to the government -- a not guilty verdict," Webb said. "The Rezko jury returned a not guilty verdict because the allegations were not supported by any credible evidence."
Contributing: Chris Fusco, Maudlyne Ihejirika
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RELATED PDF
Statement from Cellini's attorney
PDF transcripts, audio files of recorded calls
Levine, Cellini call; May 12, 2004 (8:44 pm)