Jan 21, 2006 11:14 am US/Central
Ryan Damaged By Evidence On Some Charges, Not All
No Real Knockout On Racketeering Conspiracy Yet
by Mike Flannery
(CBS)
The corruption trial of former Gov. George Ryan is entering its final phase as prosecutors wrap up their case early next week.
As CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports, Ryan has been damaged by the government's evidence on fraud, tax evasion and obstruction charges. But there never was a real knockout punch on the charge of racketeering conspiracy.
When this legal marathon began last September, the weather was warmer than it is now. Despite the overcoats they're now wearing, the former governor and his defense team are feeling some heat.
Prosecutors have been presenting their case for four months, using hundreds of documents and dozens of witnesses, one a former U.S. Senator who compared George Ryan to a prostitute, prompting Ryan's only public comment about the trial: "Sen. Gramm called me a prostitute. And I feel I absolutely have to respond to that. If Sen. Gramm wants to use the word 'prostitute,' perhaps he should look within."
Far more important to the government's case than the name calling by the ethically-challenged Gramm, was the testimony of Scott Fawell, Ryan's former campaign manager and chief of staff. Day after dramatic day, Fawell told of free vacations that he and Ryan received to tropical climates, including a Jamaican estate owned by a currency exchange kingpin who later got a big fee increase from the state.
Fawell's currently serving a long prison term of his own, in part for diverting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to Ryan's campaign for governor. He told this jury that Ryan was well aware of the scheme and its details. After repeatedly lacing his testimony with crude profanity, Fawell was rebuked by prosecutor Patrick Collins and ended up being treated as a hostile witness by the government lawyers who had originally called him to the stand.
Prosecutors got along much better when they called another convicted felon, Don Udstuen, to the witness stand. Udstuen was a notorious Springfield bully boy and lobbyist and a long-time Ryan confidante. He claimed to have split hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal payoffs with Ryan's co-defendant Larry Warner. Udstuen said Warner told him, "I'll take care of George."
But when the Feds tired to trap Ryan into talking about any of that in a secretly-recorded phone conversation, the then-governor came up clean, offering moral support for Udstuen on the day Udstuen had quit a high-paying job.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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