Former banker pleads guilty
By Associated Press Writer By MIKE ROBINSON (The Associated Press)
CHICAGO – A politically connected former investment banker pleaded guilty Wednesday to threatening to deny state permission for a suburban hospital expansion if the hospital’s chief didn’t hire a contractor favored by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
P. Nicholas Hurtgen, 46, a key figure in the long-running federal investigation of corruption in the Blagojevich administration, entered his plea to aiding and abetting wire fraud during an appearance before U.S. District Judge John F. Grady.
Hurtgen’s 23-page written plea agreement stopped short of outlining why Blagojevich wanted contractor Jacob Kiferbaum hired.
Kiferbaum pleaded guilty to extortion in a related case in June 2005 and admitted that millionaire political contributor Stuart Levine was to get a kickback from him in the hospital deal.
Hurtgen said he told Edward Hospital’s chief executive that she didn’t want to know why Blagojevich and Levine wanted Kiferbaum to get the job, but that it was “all about money” for campaign contributions.
Hospital CEO Pam Davis was not identified by name in the plea agreement, but she has been praised by the FBI and others for serving as an undercover witness during the investigation.
Davis said in statement she was pleased by the guilty plea but still had concerns about the way applications for such projects were reviewed and hoped there would be reforms to make it “effective and less vulnerable to corruption.”
Naperville-based Edward Hospital had wanted to build a new hospital and medical building in Plainfield but required a certificate of need from the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board before it could start construction.
