WisPolitics Courtwatch Blog

The U.S. attorney in Chicago today announced former Tommy Thompson aide and bond broker Nick Hurtgen has been indicted for a second time in an alleged kickback scheme involving Illinois hospitals.

A federal judge earlier this year dismissed similar charges, ruling prosecutors didn't present any evidence that he knew about the alleged illegal activity.

The indictment returned today by a federal grand jury reinstates the same charges, and prosecutors said it adds detail about Hurtgen's alleged role in the scheme. The charges include six counts of aiding and abetting mail and wire fraud and one court of extortion.

Prosecutors have alleged that Hurtgen was involved in the scheme with Stuart Levine, who was a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board that is required to sign off on any hospital project in that state before it could be built. They alleged Hurtgen told hospital authorities which construction firm to select if they wanted approval for a project, directing business to Jacob Kiferbaum.

Levine and Kiferbaum have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors, according to the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 yeas in prison and a fine.

Hurtgen attorney Stephen Hurley said he's surprised by the charges and plans to ask a federal judge to again dismiss the counts.

"The evidence hasn't changed. All that's changed is their characterization of it," Hurley said.

Hurley said he hasn't had any talks with prosecutors about a plea deal since the federal judge first dismissed the charges in March.

"We got it dismissed before, and I think we have an extraordinarily good chance that that's precisely what's going to happen again," he said.

*Read the DOJ statement:
http://www.wispolitics.com/index.iml?Article=113069

*Read the indictment:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/large/071213_DOJ_Hurtgen.pdf

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A federal judge has denied a request to reconsider his decision to dismiss charges against former Tommy Thompson aide and bond trader Nick Hurtgen.

Federal prosecutors in Chicago filed the request after U.S. Judge John Grady ruled they had failed to provide required evidence to support charges filed against Hurtgen in a kickback scheme involving construction executives and the head of the Illinois board that regulates hospital projects.

The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago has 30 days from last week's decision to file a notice of appeal with the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. "That's a decision we haven’t made yet and is under review," said Randall Samborn, spokesman for the Chicago office.

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The U.S. attorney's office in Chicago filed a motion late Thursday asking for reconsideration of a decision to dismiss the charges against former Tommy Thompson aide and bond trader Nick Hurtgen, arguing a federal judge erred in his analysis of the case.

A federal judge last month dismissed the seven counts of extortion and mail and wire fraud against Hurtgen, the one-time head of the municipal bond business for the Bear Stearns & Co. office in Chicago.

Prosecutors alleged Hurtgen was part of a kickback scheme involving a construction executive and the head of the Illinois board that regulates hospital projects. Judge John Grady found prosecutors had failed to provide evidence that Hurtgen knew of the kickback scheme involved in an Illinois hospital project.

But U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald argued in today's motion that the government had met the legal requirements to show a scheme to defraud and it should be up to a jury to decide whether "Hurtgen had the specific intent to defraud the people of Illinois." He also argues the federal extortion statute does not require prosecutors to lay out "details about the scope of Hurtgen's knowledge" of the extortion scheme.

Hurtgen attorney Steve Hurley could not be reached for comment late this afternoon.

See the filing:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070418HurtgenMotion.pdf

Labels: Nick_Hurtgen

A federal judge has dismissed fraud and extortion charges against former Tommy Thompson aide Nick Hurtgen, ruling prosecutors did not present any evidence he knew about an alleged kickback scheme in an Illinois hospital project.

Prosecutors had charged Hurtgen with three counts of mail fraud, three courts of wire fraud and one court of extortion. They alleged he was involved in a scheme with Stuart Levine, who was a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, which has to sign off on any hospital project in that state can be built. They alleged Hurtgen told hospital authorities which construction firm to select if they wanted approval for a project.

But U.S. District Court Judge John Grady wrote in his decision that Hurtgen would have had to know that Levine was expecting a kickback from the construction firm to prove the mail and wire fraud charges. He wrote prosecutors had not provided evidence of that.

He also wrote there was nothing in the indictment to suggest Hurtgen knew Levine favored the construction company for anything other than the quality of its work.

"Certainly knowledge is an essential element of extortion; there is no such thing as accidental or negligent extortion," Grady wrote in his explanation for dismissing the extortion charge.

Hurtgen attorney Steve Hurley did not return calls from WisPolitics. Randall Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago, said, "We are reviewing the opinion and will consider our options, including an appeal to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals."

See the ruling:
http://www.wispolitics.com/1006/070321HurtgenDismiss.pdf

Labels: Nick_Hurtgen

Nick Hurtgen, a former aide to ex-Gov. Tommy Thompson, had another uneventful hearing today in the U.S District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

Attorneys told Judge John F. Grady more time is needed for discovery, and a status hearing was set for Nov. 29.

The news today, however, involved a newly unsealed indictment against Hurtgen co-defendant Stuart Levine and Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a top fundraiser for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Among other charges, the indictment alleges that Levine and Rezko assisted Janesville-based Mercy Hospital in getting a permit to build a new hospital in Crystal Lake, Illinois, in exchange for a kickback to be paid by the contractor to Levine and Rezko of approximately $1 million.

U.S. Attorney's office spokesman Randall Samborn said the indictment and new charges do not involve Hurtgen, formerly senior managing director in the Chicago office of Bear Stearns & Co. Hurtgen is facing three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of extortion.

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The attorney for a man charged along with former top Thompson aide Nick Hurtgen in an alleged kickback scheme in Illinois will plead guilty, according to The Associated Press.

Stuart Levine, a former member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, is facing 19 counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud, two counts of misapplication of funds, two counts of money laundering and one count of extortion for the scheme involving hospitals in the Illinois counties of Will and McHenry. His defense attorney Jeffrey Steinback said he will enter the guilty plea at a Nov. 1 hearing.

Hurtgen, formerly senior managing director in the Chicago office of Bear Stearns & Co., is facing three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and one count of extortion. A new status hearing for Hurtgen is set for Oct. 11 at 10:30 a.m.

Hurtgen's Madison-based attorney, Stephen Hurley, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Another man accused in the scheme, architect Jacob Kiferbaum, has cooperated with investigators since before the May 2005 indictment.

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