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CHICAGO (AP) - A federal judge has dismissed charges against a businessman accused of helping a state official pressure a hospital to hire a favored contractor for a $113 million project.
P. Nicholas Hurtgen, a former managing director in the Bear, Stearns & Co. Chicago office, was charged with extortion and mail fraud in the federal corruption investigation involving the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board.
U.S. District Judge John F. Grady's 22-page decision, dated Tuesday, represented a setback for the government's investigation of state-government corruption, which has been focusing on kickbacks involving big-money state boards.
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