Bill Cellini

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Bob Kustra’s unique perspective on ethics in politics

February 13, 2012
Idaho Statesman

Boise State University President Bob Kustra might have never spoken of going “Beyond the Blue” had he cut ethical corners.

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Felon William Cellini’s family still profits off state contracts

January 3, 2012
Chicago Sun Times

By DAVE McKINNEY AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters / January 3, 2012 12:26AM

As a convicted felon, William F. Cellini — the longtime Republican power broker recently convicted of corruption tied to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s “pay-to-play” schemes — can no longer do business with the state of Illinois, as he has done for more than four decades.

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Cellini firm made money for TRS

November 25, 2011
Woodridge Reporter

By CHRIS WETTERICH
GateHouse News Service

SPRINGFIELD -- It’s a question dating back to February 2009. The Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System had just fired Commonwealth Realty Investments, a firm that managed hundreds of millions of dollars of TRS assets, four months after one of the firm’s principals, William Cellini, was indicted on federal corruption charges.

How much money did Cellini’s firm make for TRS — the $37 billion retirement fund that provides pensions for suburban Chicago and downstate teachers? 

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Judge: Cellini juror’s undisclosed past might not mean a mistrial

November 24, 2011
Chicago Sun-Times

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter

A federal judge has ruled that a juror’s failure to disclose felony convictions before being picked to serve in the trial of Downstate power broker William Cellini is unlikely to warrant an automatic mistrial.

U.S. District Judge James Zagel said that the revelation alone that a female juror was a felon does not automatically negate the jury’s verdict.

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Thank Blagojevich for Cellini's downfall

November 6, 2011
Bloomington Pantagraph

By Kurt Erickson

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Cellini's lawyer takes aim at star witness

October 18, 2011
Chicago Tribune

Cross-examination brings up drug use, memory issues

By Annie Sweeney, Tribune reporter

Whether Stuart Levine comes off as a believable government witness or a drug-addled schemer not to be trusted is a key issue at Springfield power broker William Cellini's trial on charges that he tried to extort a Hollywood producer.

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Cellini witness asked if drug use affected his memory: ‘It’s possible’

October 18, 2011
Chicago Sun-Times

BY NATASHA KORECKI Federal Courts Reporter nkorecki@suntimes.com

The star witness in the trial of Springfield millionaire William Cellini on Monday admitted “it’s possible” that three decades of drug use affected his memory, after detailing drug-fueled parties with male friends and all-day binges that included the witness snorting 10 lines of a potent mix of crystal meth and an animal tranquilizer .

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Cellini: A career and a trial, two different things

William Cellini spent his six-decade-spanning career in and around government. He has built relationships with very powerful politicians of both parties, and had a remarkable ability to appear on the edges of state contracting, hiring and regulatory activity since the early 1970's. He has parlayed his government connections into considerable personal wealth in ways that few others can compare.



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Cellini flies into court under the radar, and that's the way he likes it

October 2, 2011
Chicago Tribune

Springfield insider's trial is the last big corruption case of the Blagojevich scandal

John Kass

Will this week's federal corruption trial of longtime Illinois Republican political boss and gazillionaire William Cellini get as much media coverage as the trial of former Gov. Dead Meat?

Of course it won't. And that's unfortunate, since the Cellini case appears to be the last in the federal government's Operation Board Games investigation into bipartisan Combine sleaze.

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The King of Clout: State deals make William Cellini rich

October 1, 2011
Chicago Sun-Times

BY TIM NOVAK, CHUCK NEUBAUER AND DAVE MCKINNEY

This Sun-Times investigation was originally published Oct. 6, 1996

Governors come and go, but for the last three decades there’s been a constant in Illinois government: William Cellini.

The 61-year-old Springfield businessman has amassed clout and contracts that have turned him into a multimillionaire and made him an unelected powerbroker in government.

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