Nov 7, 2007 1:56 am US/Central
Former Illinois Governor Ryan Leaves For Prison
KANKAKEE, Ill. (CBS) ―
Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan left his Kankakee home before sunrise Wednesday morning for the federal prison camp in Oxford, Wis.
As CBS statation WBBM-TV in Chicago reports, Ryan was not due to arrive at the federal prison in Oxford, Wis., at 5 p.m. But there was activity starting as early as 5 a.m. First, lights went on, then a van pulled up outside the home and parked flush against the garage. Then someone put some suitcases in the van, and another van pulled up and some people went into the hone.
It's been more than a year and a half since former Gov. George Ryan was convicted of racketeering and fraud after a long and contentious trial, and 14 months since he was sentenced to 6 1/2 years in prison.
But while Ryan persuaded judges to keep him out of prison for more than a year while he appealed his conviction, those options have now been exhausted. After the U.S. Supreme Court denied another appeal bond, Ryan is going to prison on Wednesday.
Addressing reporters Tuesday night, Ryan said he had a "clear conscience" as he prepared to report to prison to serve his sentence for corruption that destroyed his political career and left the state awash in scandal.
"Tomorrow I embark on a new journey in my life. I do so with a firm faith in God and the support and faith of my family," Ryan said in the front yard of his Kankakee home, surrounded by his wife, Lura Lynn, his children and other friends.
A misty-eyed Ryan said he would report as ordered on Wednesday to the federal facility in Oxford, Wis.
"But I do so with a clear conscience. And I have said since the beginning of this 10-year ordeal that I am innocent and I intend to prove that," Ryan said.
Earlier Tuesday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens refused to grant Ryan bail, issuing his decision less than 24 hours after a final, urgent plea by Ryan's lawyers, who said his six-month trial had been unfair and plagued by errors.
Former Gov. James Thompson, Ryan's chief defense counsel, said he was not surprised by Stevens' decision not to grant bail while Ryan continues to press his case before the nation's highest court.
"We knew that our petition for bail was a long shot," he told reporters at a news conference. But Thompson said he would go ahead and try to get the Supreme Court to consider Ryan's appeal even as the former governor serves time.
Ryan's family stood by him as he made his statement outside his home in Kankakee Tuesday night. That family also stood by him during the swirl of accusations and the trial that resulted in his 2006 conviction.
"It would have been easy over the course of these years to fold under the overwhelming pressure and enter into a plea bargain – that would have spared my family a lot of pain," Ryan said. "But such a plea would just not have been truthful."
Meanwhile, Ryan's attorney and longtime friend former Gov. Jim Thompson will be there for him, from the drive to Wisconsin to the legal battle ahead.
"We will exhaust every right that Governor Ryan has coming to him. The last one will be a petition for certuary in the Supreme Court. But in addition to being my client, George Ryan has been my friend for over 30 years, and I don't run from friends who get in trouble."
Ryan's family and others will remember him being called worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize for emptying death row in Illinois when it became clear so many cases were deeply flawed, or for traveling to Cuba to try to engage Fidel Castro. But both may be overshadowed by that horrible accident in Wisconsin, the death of six children and his subsequent conviction he still maintains was unfair.
His claim that he did not receive a fair trial is based primarily on chaotic jury deliberations. Two jurors were dismissed after it was found they had omitted mention of their police records on a questionnaire.
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