Cellini attorneys to ask for delay in sentencing

Attorneys for a onetime powerbroker with links to former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich are expected to ask for a delay to his sentencing hearing scheduled for Monday.

William Cellini’s lawyers requested a hearing for Wednesday to argue for a later sentencing date. But the motion they filed in federal court in Chicago was sealed and so their grounds for a delay weren’t clear.

Prosecutors have said Cellini deserves to go to prison for up to eight years for conspiring to extort the Oscar-winning producer of “Million Dollar Baby” for a contribution to Blagojevich’s campaign. But they’ve also conceded his health problems could justify a lesser sentence.

Cellini’s sentencing was delayed earlier this year after the 77-year-old reportedly suffered a heart attack. He was treated more recently for a blood clot.