Blago scandal powerbroker Cellini housed at same prison as George Ryan

ALPM cornerstone

William Cellini, a Springfield power broker for four decades, reported to FCI Terre Haute this afternoon--the same prison that houses former Illinois Governor George Ryan.

Nominally a Republican, Cellini got entangled in the Rod Blagojevich scandals. He's one of those operators who just seemed too cunning to be caught breaking the law--but Cellini's shakedown of a movie producer attracted the attention of federal prosecutors. He was found guilty of extortion last year.

At the Indiana prison, it's likely that Cellini and Ryan will meet and and be able reminisce. However, Ryan is scheduled to  be transferred to a West Side Chicago halfway house next week.

Cellini's wife, Julie, was the driving force to behind the building the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield. One of the permanent exhibits is Ask Mr. Lincoln Presented by Julie and Bill Cellini.

The cornerstone of the library reads, "Dedicated 2002, George H. Ryan Governor."

Abraham Lincoln--Honest Abe--deserves so much better.

Related posts:

Lincoln in Dixon, IL

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• Review, Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever 
• Thirty hours in Lincoln's Springfield, Illinois
• "My earliest recollection is of the Knob Creek place"
• Abraham Lincoln birthplace site
• The only statue of Lincoln in military dress is in Dixon, Illinois
• Abraham Lincoln birthplace site's log cabin
• Jonesboro, site of the third Lincoln-Douglas Debate
• Book review: Andrew Ferguson's "Land of Lincoln: Adventures in Abe's America"