Former Blago Fundraiser Faces Sentencing
Christopher Kelly, former fundraiser for ex-governor Rod Blagojevich, will be sentenced today on the first series of charges he’s already pleaded guilty to, with two more sets of charges he’s already pleaded not-guilty to. Today, Kelly will be sentenced for using work funds to pay off gambling debts and pay for his house and for personal expenses. He’s still to face charges related to a roofing deal at O’Hare and racketeering charges with Blagojevich. Federal prosecutors have been hoping they would get cooperation from Kelly in their case against Blago but that has yet to be the case. Estimates for Kelly’s sentence on the charges he will be sentence for today range from about three to four years in prison.
Christopher Kelly’s company, BCI Roofing, made millions constructing roof after roof on government buildings and private businesses, Kelly himself was busy building another kind of cover.
A cover for his gambling habit.
“Kelly perpetrated a complex tax fraud scheme. As part of his corrupt endeavor to cheat the IRS, Kelly repeatedly made efforts to hide his tax fraud by falsely booking expenditures as legitimate expenses and having fraudulent internal documents produced by his bookkeeper” say federal prosecutors in a Chicago court filing.
Kelly, 50, has pleaded guilty to the tax charges and admits wrongdoing, but has waged a pointed attack on the government concerning how much prison time he should face.
What is not at issue is how Mr. Kelly schemed and connived to cover his tracks. Federal investigators say they found a paper trail of evidence that Kelly, once Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s most trusted fund-raiser, altered his company’s books to make it look as though wagering debts were legitimate business expenses.
“In 2001, Kelly had his assistant at BCI Roofing issue a check for $147,234 to MIRCO. On the same date, Kelly had his assistant at BCI Roofing produce a ‘pay out sheet,’ which is an internal document produced by BCI Roofing to track money it paid. In this instance, at Kelly’s direction, the BCI Roofing pay out sheet is ‘to’ Mirco and is for “Job: American Airlines Air Cargo.
“In fact, despite its appearance and Kelly’s efforts at subterfuge, the $147,000 check was not related to an American Airlines Air Cargo roofing job being completed by BCI Roofing. Rather, the $147,000 was used to pay off Kelly’s personal gambling debt to the Mirage Casino.
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