William F. Cellini

William F. Cellini (born November 5, 1934) is an American businessman and felon. He co-founded the New Frontier Companies, a group of Illinois-based real estate companies with headquarters in Chicago. He was previously the chairman of the NYSE-listed Argosy Gaming Company, was the treasurer of the Sangamon County Republican Party, and has held several public offices within the state of Illinois.Wildeboer, Rob, "The most influential Illinoisan you don't know: Bill Cellini", WBEZ 91.5, October 03, 2011

Cellini has served on the boards of Lakeside Bank of Chicago, the Illinois National Bank of Springfield, Roosevelt National Life Insurance Company, Illinois College Board of Trustees, and the Boys & Girls Club of Springfield, Illinois. He was the statewide chairman of the USO, and has appeared on numerous professional panels for the road-building industry. In 2007 he received the Bradley University Department of Engineering Outstanding Achievement Award. He is a member of the Lanphier High School Hall of Fame."Hall of Fame at Lanphier named eight", State Journal Register, page 11, May 25, 1991 From 1957 to 1988, Cellini served in the Illinois National Guard and retired under the rank of colonel after 31 years of service."The Builder", page 70, January, 1971 He was convicted on federal corruption charges in 2011.

Early life and family William Cellini was born in Springfield, Illinois. His family lived and worked in the blue-collar North End of the city. From the 1930s until the 1960s, the neighborhood where he lived was an enclave of Southern and Eastern European families. Most fathers on his block were coal miners or they worked in Springfield's factories. Cellini's father started out as a coal miner until age 22 when he became a 37-year member of the Springfield Police Department. During Cellini's childhood, his mother took in laundry and worked as a waitress at their family's restaurant.

Cellini was president of his graduating grade school class, and he attended Lanphier High School in Springfield, graduating in 1952. He was the first member of his immediate family to attend college, earning a degree in physics from Illinois College in 1958. In 1960, he served on the faculty at Niantic-Harristown High School in Niantic, Illinois, where he taught physics, algebra and English. To help pay his way through college, Cellini played dances in Central Illinois with his own bands, The Hi-Fis and the Bill Cellini Orchestra. His first professional music job was in 1953.

Cellini married Julianna Cellini, a former reporter. They are the parents of a son and daughter.

Cellini plays piano and had a dance band that played throughout the Midwest from 1953 to 1969. He was elected chairman of the American Federation of Musicians Local 19.American Federation of Musicians, Local 153, San Jose, CA Official Proceedings of the 67th Annual Convention, page 10, 1964

Career

In 1959, Cellini ran for his first public office as police magistrate of Springfield but lost his bid for election. Cellini went on to lose another election for circuit clerk of Sangamon County, Illinois, but eventually won a seat on the Sangamon County Board of Supervisors in 1961. In 1963, he was elected to serve on the Springfield City Council as Commissioner of Public Works.Outstanding Young Men of America, Junior Chamber of Commerce, Publisher, Montgomery, AL 1965 At 28, he was the youngest man ever elected to the Springfield City Council and the youngest to head its public works department. He was re-elected in 1967 having no opposition.Rushton, Bruce, "Timeline of Bill Cellini's Life", The State Journal Register, October 30, 2008

In 1969, Governor Richard B. Ogilvie appointed William Cellini to be the Director of Public Works and Buildings for Illinois. In 1971, he was appointed Illinois' first Secretary of Transportation and directed several thousand employees while administering an annual budget of over a billion dollars in public works programs.State Government Administration, January/February 1972, Volume VII, No. 1, pg 30

In April 1972, the Illinois State Senate unanimously confirmed Cellini as the first secretary of the newly created Illinois Department of Transportation, putting him in charge of 10,000 employees and a budget of more than $1.5 billion. The election of Democrat Dan Walker as Governor the following year ended Cellini's career in state government.

Beginning in 1974, Cellini embarked on a long and successful career in the private sector. With his business partner Larry Haddad, he co-founded the New Frontier Companies,"New Frontier Companies - History" a full service real estate development firm, and in addition, Cellini became executive director of the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association."IAPA - Staff"

Cellini remained politically active in the private sector serving as Treasurer of the Sangamon County Republican Central Committee in Springfield. In the mid-1970s, he was appointed by the President of the United States to serve on the National Highway Safety Advisory Committee and in 1976 at the age of 41, Cellini was a delegate to the Republican National Convention in Kansas City, Missouri where from the floor of the convention hall he seconded the nomination of Gerald R. Ford for President by giving a brief speech he wrote on the back of a campaign sign.Republican National Committee, Washington DCOfficial Report of the Proceedings of the Thirty-First Republican National Convention page 403, Kansas City, Missouri, August 16–19, 1976

In 1977, Cellini and Haddad formed New Frontier Management Corporation, a company that has overseen the management, rent-up and asset management of over 17,000 housing units throughout the United States. In 1985, New Frontier Management opened the President Abraham Lincoln Hotel, in Springfield, Illinois. In 1989 he founded Pacific Management Inc., from which he is now retired. In addition to these business ventures, Cellini took an active role in commercial product design by inventing and patenting two types of Shower Enlarger curtain rods which maximize bathtub showering space and are currently used in many hotels across the United States.United States Patent and Trademark Office. US Patent Number 4,754,504 Shower Enlarger Curtain Rod, July 5, 1988

From 1973 to 2010, Cellini served as the executive director of the Illinois Asphalt Pavement Association, the Illinois Association of Wastewater Agencies, the Illinois Concrete Pipe Association and, he held a membership position in the PCI of Illinois and Wisconsin. He has since retired from all of these entities.

Argosy Gaming

In 1990, Cellini and group of ten entrepreneurs created Metro Entertainment and Tourism to obtain the first casino license in Illinois. The group was successful in winning the license and went on to create the Alton Riverboat Gambling Partnership in Alton, Illinois. This partnership included tennis star Jimmy Connors. After an extensive government vetting and qualifying process, Cellini became the co-founder of Argosy Gaming Company in 1999, a New York Stock Exchange traded entity. The company's first gambling license cost the company $85,000 but later blossomed into a value of $500 million with six casinos.Spain and Talbot "Hoover's Handbook of Emerging Companies, 3rd Ed", page 105, 1996

Commonwealth Realty Advisors

In 1989, William Cellini and Earl Deutsch founded Commonwealth Realty Advisors (CRA). The firm was a highly successful real-estate investment company focused on asset management of commercial real estate. Its clients included union and public pension funds and its most successful client was the Teachers Retirement System of Illinois (TRS). According to numbers confirmed by TRS, the retirement system earned a 14.38% return during CRA's 17 year management. So successful was their management of assets that the executive director of TRS publicly commended CRA's performance as one of the pension fund's top-performing real-estate managers. CRA earned double-digit returns for teachers' system over a period of 17 years and grew to manage approximately $2 billion in gross assets before its closure in 2009.Wetterich, Chris, "Cellini company made money for TRS", The State Journal Register, November 27, 2011

In the fall of 2006, TRS said that Commonwealth was one of the system's biggest moneymakers, earning the pension fund about 20 percent over the previous five years. "They have made a ton of money for us," TRS executive director Jon Bauman told The State Journal-Register at the time. "They're probably our top-performing real-estate manager."

CRA earned double-digit returns for the system and grew to manage approximately $2 billion in gross assets before its closure in 2009 while returning approximately $1 billion in distributions to the fund. TRS officials confirmed that the teachers earned a 14.38% return during CRA's 17 year management.

Legal issues and outcome

In October 2008, Cellini was indicted on charges of conspiring with convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko to obtain money in exchange for campaign contributions to a public official who at the time was believed to be Illinois' Governor Rod Blagojevich. In addition to Cellini and Rezko, Stuart P. Levine and another unnamed co-conspirator were including in the indictment. The indictment described a plan that involved campaign contribution money from the Chicago investment firm Capri Capital through the cooperation of one of its owner, Thomas Rosenberg."Republican Power Broker Cellini Indicted", Huffington Post, October 30th, 2008

In a separate trial, Tony Rezko was acquitted of similar charges related to an extortion plot involving Rosenberg and Capri Capital.Harris, Andrew, "U.S. Indicts Alleged Accomplice of Fundraiser Rezko", Bloomberg, October 30, 2008

Cellini's attorney Dan Webb released a statement saying that his client, "is completely innocent of these charges, and he will fight this case because he has done absolutely nothing wrong. Bill has lived an exemplary life as a successful businessman and devoted husband and father, and he will not allow his reputation to be damaged by these unfair and unjust charges. Bill is confident that a jury will find him not guilty.".Coen, Jeff and Chase, John, "Feds indict insider in Blagojevich probe", Chicago Tribune, October 30, 2008

In October 2011 in Chicago, prosecution and defense brought forth their cases in a Federal Court presided over by Judge James Zagel. While the prosecution provided an array of evidence against Cellini (mostly relying on Levine's testimony), Levine's credibility was called into question. Described by both sides as having committed crimes including drug use and dealing, Levine had not yet served a single day in prison presumably due to his cooperation with the authorities.Nickease, Peter, "Prosecutors: Levine among 'most valuable' witnesses in 3 decades", Chicago Tribune, June 16, 2012

While under questioning by the Assistant U.S. Attorney, Levine gave mostly monotone answers about his past malfeasance while on the board of the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System - TRS. At one point on the stand, Levine became flustered when his cell phone rang and he struggled to silence it.Sweeney, Anne, "Insider turned star witness tells of deals made with Cellini", Chicago Tribune, October 12, 2011

Under cross-examination Levine's conduct changed. He stalled continuously when recalling his own testimony hours prior. He appeared disoriented, pausing for 10 seconds or longer as the courtroom grew quiet. When the defense asked Levine about the amounts of money he stole, the institutions he cheated, and how he felt about his actions, Levine had no answers.