There’s no turning back for Antoin "Tony" Rezko, a former fund-raiser for Barack Obama, who was convicted on 16 of 24 counts, including fraud, attempted bribery and money laundering

According to BBC News, he was accused of using his position to influence some companies to do business with the state.

Apparently, Chicago businessman Rezko was a fundraiser for Senator Obama.

Although the senator had nothing to do with Rezko’s actions, he donated about $150,000 raised by Rezko to charity, saying he was very sorry to hear about the verdict.

The trial lasted about 9 weeks, time in which prosecutors accused Rezko of using his influence he had over Illinois government boards to attract money by illegal means.

Ironically, Rezko also had connections with Gov. Rod Blagojevich who promised to end corruption in Springfield when he became governor in 2002.

His lawyers said that the businessman did all that out of devotion for his favorite politicians and the money he raised was not for his own benefit.

Although that last time he raised money for Obama was in 2004, the scandal automatically linked him to the senator.

According to the Washington Post, Rezko together with Stuart Levine, a Republican insider made a team and extorted money from different companies.

Levine pleaded guilty in 2006 and testified against Rezko. The defense tried to combat his testimony, saying that he has had problems with drugs and made up the story.

After the verdict was read, Rezko was taken into custody and said that he wanted to begin serving his sentence right away. He came at the federal courthouse accompanied by his two sons.