Associated Press - March 10, 2010 7:14 PM ET
CHICAGO (AP) - Federal prosecutors described a millionaire real estate developer as so eager for profits he bribed an alderman.
However, attorneys for Calvin Boender say the developer was merely trying to rescue a neighborhood so blighted dead bodies and animal carcasses were dumped there.
Conflicting images of Boender were presented opening statements Wednesday as his bribery trial got under way in U.S. District Court in Chicago.
Boender is charged with furnishing former Chicago Alderman Isaac Carothers with $37,000 in home improvements in return for a zoning change and other offenses.
Carothers has pleaded guilty and is expected to be a government witness.
Attorneys say they expect Boender's trial to last two weeks.
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