...Fitzgerald's federal agents and prosecutors are investigating numerous arms of Chicago, Cook County and state governments. The Oct. 30 indictment of Springfield power broker William Cellini, and the Nov. 3 guilty plea from former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, are but two more beats in an accelerating drumroll of cases. These men long were viewed as members of an untouchable caste in Illinois politics: Through the years, how many U.S. attorneys have served in Springfield and Chicago without seriously probing their conduct?
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Testimony during Rezko's trial alleged that high-ranking Illinois Republicans had conspired to have the Bush administration oust Fitzgerald. Near the end of the Cellini indictment, the feds formalized that allegation, with Cellini as one of the conspirators accused of attempting to halt Fitzgerald's investigations of public corruption here. Cellini's attorney says he is innocent.
As for Vrdolyak: A lot of the people now sweating over Fitzgerald's next moves aren't nearly as smart as Fast Eddie. If he couldn't evade this U.S. attorney, how will they?
The stakes for corrupt officials are high: They risk losing their careers, their pensions and their freedom. How long until the U.S. Bureau of Prisons opens an Illinois Wingdeep dish pizza on Tuesdays, Bears games on cablein one of its penitentiaries?
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