Former IL Gov. Blagojevich's key adviser found dead

BY MARK J. KONKOL and MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporters
Chicago Sun-Times
Sep. 14, 2009

The former fundraiser for ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich spoke to a police officer before he died, Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch said Sunday.

Christopher Kelly, 51, of Burr Ridge was sitting up on a gurney while being interviewed by the officer, Welch said. Based on what Kelly told the officer, police are “fairly certain” he tried to kill himself, Welch said.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office performed an autopsy but said the results are not complete.

Police found “pills” in Kelly’s SUV. Welch would not say whether they were prescription or over-the-counter medication.

Kelly told the officer that he recently had surgery on his “private parts.” Welch said police did not know what type of surgery. Welch said Kelly was hesitant and defensive.

On Sunday, Welch said Clarissa J. Flores-Buhelos, 30, of Chicago, the girlfriend who took Kelly to the hospital before he died of an apparent overdose Saturday, has “lawyered up” and is not cooperating with police.

But her attorney, Terry Gillespie angrily said Flores-Buhelos had already arranged to meet with police Monday. “Apparently the mayor was too busy giving news conferences” to check with his police department to confirm Monday’s meeting, Gillespie said.

Welch said Flores-Buhelos, who identified herself as Kelly’s girlfriend, told a Country Club Hills officer who was dispatched to the hospital at 3:02 a.m. that she had been trading text messages with Kelly before she drove from Chicago to the Forest Lumber yard at 173rd and Cicero where she found Kelly in his Cadillac Escalade.

She told a Country Club Hills officer that she saw vomit inside and outside the SUV, and pushed Kelly over to the passenger side of the vehicle and drove him to Oak Forest Hospital. Kelly was “cognizant” at the time, Welch said.

Oak Forest Hospital does not have a trauma unit, but doctors were able to stabilize Kelly. Doctors later decided Kelly could be better treated at Stroger Hospital in Chicago, where Kelly was taken about 5:15 a.m. Saturday and died at 10:46 a.m., Cook County hospitals officials said.

The police officer also interviewed an unidentified “male white with grey hair” who claimed to be Kelly’s friend. He told the officer who Kelly was, Welch said.

Later Saturday morning, a white man with grey hair — police are unsure if it was the same man interviewed at the hospital earlier — came to the hospital with keys to the Escalade and tried to remove it from the parking lot but was turned away by police, Welch said.

“We’re trying to determine who that is, too,” Welch said. “It could be the same white male or it could be two separate people we don’t know.”

Gillespie said Flores-Buhelos “has nothing to hide” and has offered her full cooperation, Gillespie said. “She never, ever, ever refused to cooperate.”

Welch portrayed her “as if she’s a criminal. This girl’s best friend in life just died hours before. He's [the mayor] basically [implying] she did something wrong.”

“She's got nothing to hide and she's devastated by the whole thing.”

“The mayor's a jackass. You can print that,” Gillespie said.

Kelly’s guilty plea

Kelly was Blagojevich’s “go-to guy” who once masterminded the ex-governor’s lucrative campaign fund.

Kelly’s death came just four days after he pleaded guilty to a scheme involving $8.5 million in fraud at O’Hare International Airport. It was his second conviction this year — and he still faced trial along with the ex-governor in June.

Kelly had been indicted three times since 2007 but refused to become a cooperating witness. When he pleaded guilty to the O’Hare scheme Tuesday, Kelly spoke of feeling intense pressure by prosecutors to abandon his loyalty to Blagojevich and cooperate with the feds.

A source familiar with the investigation told the Chicago Sun-Times that Kelly, who was married, called a woman late Friday identified as his “girlfriend” and told her that he took some pills and was going to kill himself.

The black Cadillac Escalade believed to belong to Kelly was left at Oak Forest Hospital and confiscated the vehicle Saturday night.

Welch Saturday said his police department will lead the investigation, which will be treated as if it were a homicide.

“That means no stone will go unturned. We’re doing it by the book, step one all the way through. We’re checking the GPS on the phones of everyone involved,” the mayor said. “We’ll be able to pinpoint exactly where people were.”

Welch would not say whether detectives found a suicide note.

Kelly faced nearly eight years in prison and was to report to the downtown federal lockup by Friday. He was on a curfew, which included a requirement he be at his home between midnight and 6 a.m.

While Kelly had preliminary discussions with the government about flipping on Blagojevich as recently as this summer, he never signed on to any cooperation agreement with the feds.

He pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges earlier this year. That scheme was tied, in part, to Kelly’s known gambling addiction. He admitted that he converted business funds to pay off gambling debts but did not report it properly to the Internal Revenue Service. Some of the illicit funds out of the O’Hare fraud also went to pay gambling debt, along with other debt Kelly had incurred, including a loan from convicted businessman Tony Rezko.

Blagojevich, in a statement released through his publicist, said: “I am deeply saddened to hear that Chris has died. My heart goes out to his wife Carmen, his three daughters Grace, Jacqueline and Claire and his entire family. They are in our prayers.”

Kelly faced racketeering and extortion charges along with the ex-governor.

His death is not expected to change the trial’s scheduling, but how or whether it would affect defense or prosecutorial strategy remains to be seen.

Allan A. Ackerman, a member of Blagojevich’s legal defense team, told the Associated Press that he doubts Kelly’s death “will have any impact on the government’s case at all.”

Kelly’s lawyer, Michael Monico, said late Saturday that he could not answer any questions about his client’s death.

Spokesmen from the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office declined comment.

Contributing: Natasha Korecki and Art Golab