Word: cellinis
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...prosecutors got another benefit from tying the case with Cellini's. One of Blagojevich's attorneys, Terence Gillespie, also happens to be representing Cellini. Because of the conflict of interest, Gillespie had to step down from the former governor's defense team. That made him the second high-profile defense lawyer to drop Blagojevich since the saga began. Gillespie's partner, renowned Chicago criminal defender Ed Genson, left the case in late January after becoming frustrated that Blagojevich wouldn't heed his advice to stop giving interviews. Before he gave up the case, Genson complained that the surreal atmosphere...
...friendly, a no-nonsense jurist who has little patience for allowing his courtroom to be turned into a circus. Some observers wonder if Fitzgerald's team shopped around for the right judge and made sure the case landed with Zagel by marrying Blagojevich's case with that of William Cellini, 74, a downstate businessman and power broker who raised money for Blagojevich and is currently under indictment - and whose case is already before Zagel...
...Cellini, of Springfield, is accused of trying to shake down the Teachers' Retirement System and other firms for campaign funds for Blagojevich, and also of trying to extort one of the producers of the Clint Eastwood film Million Dollar Baby. He has been under indictment since October, the 13th person charged in the ongoing Illinois pay-to-play scandal that prosecutors said traces back to even before Blagojevich became governor. Cellini has denied any wrongdoing. (Read "The Fall of the House of Blagojevich...
...find myself disturbed by what seems to be forum-shopping here," says Lyon. "Cellini seems pretty tangential, but it appears that there is a pattern of the prosecution going for a judge that might go their way. If you're Cellini, do you really want to be tried with Blagojevich?" Indeed, Dan Webb, a former U.S. Attorney and Cellini's lawyer, has stated that his client will seek a separation of the cases...
...original version of this article misstated that William Cellini is accused of trying to shake down the Teachers' Retirement System and other firms for $1.5 million in campaign funds for Blagojevich. No specific dollar figure is cited in the indictment against Cellini...