HURTGEN CHARGES DISMISSED

By Michael Horne

United States District Judge John F. Grady dismissed Tuesday, March 20th, 2007, all those counts of an indictment naming former Tommy Thompson aide P. Nicholas Hurtgen.
Hurtgen, then employed by investment banker and bond agent Bear Stearns, Inc. was named in the indictment in case 1:05-cr-0048 in which the principal charges were against Stuart Levine, then a member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, an Illinois state commission whose approval is required for the construction of medical facilities in that state.
Levine was charged with soliciting a $1.5 million kickback in connection with the construction of a facility in Crystal Lake, Ill. for Mercy Hospital.
Hurtgen was alleged to have assisted in the scheme "because he wanted his employer, Bear Stearns, to receive the financing work for the new hospital."
However, the judge wrote in his "Memorandum Opinion," "This is not an allegation that Hurtgen knew of the kickback."
The decision also refers to a Wisconsin federal case U.S. v. Hausmann, 345 F. 32d 952 (7th Cir. 2003) in which Wisconsin attorney Charles Hausmann appealed his conviction in a $70,000 kickback scheme.
The judge in the Hurtgen case repeatedly mentioned Hurtgen's ignorance of the kickback plot, daying, "Nothing by way of a factual allegation in the indictment states that he had such knowledge. ... there is no allegation that Hurtgen knew about this ...if the facts alleged in the indictment do not constitute an offense, the indictment is subject to dismissal... the point here is not what the facts might be, but rather what facts are alleged."
Hurtgen,44, and Levine were arrested by federal agents on May 9, 2005 and charged with mail fraud, wire fraud and extortion. Unlike most federal arrests in white collar cases, Hurtgen's was notable since it took place in the early mornings at his home, for the benefit of the cameras. Usually the feds simply ask you to come into the office to face charges within a certain period of time. The charges against Levine will continue.