From the Sun-Times

My life as an FBI mole
FBI PROBE | Real estate broker convicted of fraud becomes a mole for
feds to nail Rezko
February 10, 2008
BY DAVID ROEDER Staff Reporter/droeder@suntimes.com
For the first time, the FBI "mole" who's expected to be a key
prosecution witness against indicted developer and political
fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun-Times, John Thomas said his
life became frantic as he amassed hundreds of hours of recorded
conversations for federal investigators while trying to maintain the
real estate business he built on pluck and hustle.
A fly on the wall
"Now," Thomas said, "all I want is a little bit of peace."
Thomas wouldn't discuss details of his work for the FBI.
But sources said that, for more than two years when he was giving
information to agents, Thomas provided a fly-on-the-wall look inside
Rezko's real estate operations and his desperate attempts to keep his
projects afloat.
Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov.
Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama
were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash.
Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing.
Thomas had good reason to help. He hopes to get probation for his own
felony fraud conviction in a New York case. And he said he wants to
redeem himself in the eyes of business associates and his family.
Sources said Thomas helped investigators build a record of repeat
visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel
Mahru's Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama
during 2004 and 2005.
In one case, sources said, Thomas told authorities he saw a Rezmar
employee pass an envelope with a visible wad of bills to an
unidentified Blagojevich aide.
Both politicians relied on Rezko for fund-raising connections. Obama
was in the thick of his successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2004.
Now in the glare of a presidential campaign, Obama has donated to
charity $157,835 from contributions to his Senate campaign that he has
linked to Rezko.
In a corruption case set for trial next month, Rezko is accused of
seeking campaign contributions for Blagojevich and kickbacks from
companies seeking state pension business.
At 45, Thomas is a curious figure at the heart of a scandal that has
reached into presidential politics.
He is prominent in commercial real estate circles in Chicago, even
after pleading guilty in 2004 to felony fraud in New York.
Sources said the government had him wear a hidden wire to record
conversations with a Chicago alderman -- but that he did not record
Blagojevich or Obama.
Thomas said his work on the Rezko case is "essentially done."
He spoke of having turned government informer to reduce the penalties
for his crimes and help rebuild his life and career.
"I was always a very talented real estate person," Thomas said. "But,
when I became part of a difficult situation, I made the wrong
decisions."
According to an FBI affidavit, those "wrong decisions" included
Thomas' drawing more than $350,000 from his customers' credit cards
while he was running a billboard leasing business in Manhattan in the
late 1990s. He also charged more than $140,000 to an American Express
business account he obtained using his father's Social Security
number.
Afterward, Thomas, born Bernard Barton Jr., legally changed his name.
Goal was to cut prison term
Discussing what happened in New York, Thomas said he was trying to
meet his payroll at a time the company had grown too fast.
According to sources, that was where Thomas first made contact with
the FBI and the Justice Department in a move to reduce the likely 15-
to 21-month prison term he'd get for fraud.
At the time, in the late 1990s, organized-crime families in New York
were trying to muscle into the billboard business. Sources said Thomas
helped federal prosecutors.
Relocating to Chicago in 2000, he built a real estate brokerage
business. He did it with aggressive cold-calling, managing to connect
sellers with buyers and positioning himself as an investor in several
downtown deals. Also as part of his business, he secured financing for
a commission.
Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 19 on the New York charges.
But his sentencing is likely to be delayed, perhaps for a year, while
the Justice Department has him testify in the second of two trials
Rezko faces -- that one involving allegations of business fraud.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn McNiven, a prosecutor on both the
Thomas and Rezko cases, declined to comment.
Thomas' real estate activities have given him many contacts in a
business that runs on them. But some of his more ambitious development
deals have failed amid a flurry of lawsuits. In one case, Thomas is
suing a former partner, accusing him of stealing money from
renovations for an office building they owned at 318 W. Adams, in the
shadow of Sears Tower. A planned conversion to office condominiums at
his building has been scrapped.
And Thomas is trading lawsuits with partners in a failed purchase of
the 105 W. Adams building. A venture he formed with Mahru to buy a
Miami building ended in bankruptcy.
'I'm always working'
Still, Thomas said his business prospects are strong now that he has a
startup company -- Red Rock Capital Realty -- that specializes in real
estate consulting.
People he has done business with said he doesn't hide his background.
Some joke that Thomas even introduces himself as a convicted felon.
"All these brokers, they come in at 10 and leave at 5," Thomas said.
"I come in at 7 and leave at 7 at night. I'm always working."
Chicago, he said, "is a wonderful place to do this kind of business.
It is the most forgiving."
Thomas said he has repaid his father and hopes to make amends for the
sake of his wife and their young child.
He wants, he said, to change. That includes gastric-bypass surgery he
had 11⁄2 years ago. Since then, he has lost more than 130 pounds from a
frame that once tipped the scales at 365.
On the back of his business card, Thomas expresses his thoughts on his
situation.
In eight languages, the card reads: "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade."

THE MOLE
Some key dates and events in the life of FBI mole John Thomas:
Late 1990s — Ran a Manhattan company that leased billboard space.
Stole several hundred thousand dollars from clients' credit cards.
Helps federal authorities in probe of mob influence in billboards.
2000 — Changes name from Bernard Barton Jr. and relocates to Chicago,
where he starts a brokerage, Carnegie Realty Partners LLC, and a
billboard company.
2003 — Signs on to represent developer Jeffrey Grossman in a
condominium deal at 60 W. Erie. Within days, Grossman is arrested for
bank fraud, and Thomas agrees to help the feds. Grossman and Donald
Grauer later plead guilty.
2004 — Thomas pleads guilty in New York fraud, gets the case
transferred to Chicago. Yet to be sentenced, Thomas begins cooperating
with feds' probe of developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko,
with a focus on Rezko's financing deals on 62 acres at Roosevelt and
Clark and vacant land at the southwest corner of Chicago and Hudson.
2005 — Still cooperating with prosecutors, Thomas builds business
portfolio and attempts several downtown development deals.
2007 — He's publicly identified as a government mole in the Rezko case.