New sentencing date for Cellini after heart attack

There’s a new sentencing date for a longtime Illinois power broker convicted of conspiring to extort a Hollywood producer.

A Thursday filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago says William Cellini will be sentenced July 20. He faces a maximum 30-year prison term.

A family spokesman has said the 77-year-old Cellini suffered the heart attack last week during a medical procedure. He was released from hospital two days later.

Thursday’s filing doesn’t offer any reason for the new date. It was understood before Cellini went for the procedure that the original June 15 date could change.

Jurors convicted the multimillionaire last year of conspiring to shake down the producer of the Oscar-winning movie “Million Dollar Baby” for a campaign contribution to Illinois’ now-imprisoned former governor, Rod Blagojevich.