Apr 18, 2006 8:39 am US/Central
Ryan, Facing Prison, Doesn't Cry Or Whine
Ryan Confident Appeal Will Reverse Decision
CHICAGO (AP) ―
When the bad news came, George Ryan handled it without tears or whining.
"Hang in there," the snowy-haired, 72-year-old former governor advised one well-wisher after gathering up his coat and that of wife Lura Lynn as if it had been just another day at court.
"Bye, ladies," he told four courtroom sketch artists who had drawn pictures of him from the beginning of his racketeering and fraud trial six months ago until Monday, when he was convicted of steering millions of dollars in state leases and contracts to political insiders, lying to federal agents and tax fraud.
Ryan had just heard a verdict all but sure to send him to prison for years. But he seemed intent on not giving his adversaries the satisfaction of seeing him turn weak at the end.
The one-time Kankakee pharmacist who became the state's most powerful Republican remained dry-eyed as he vowed to fight on in a federal appeals court to salvage a reputation wrecked by the state's biggest corruption scandal in decades.
"I believe this decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service that I provided to the people of Illinois over 40 years, and needless to say I am disappointed in the outcome," he said after becoming the third former Illinois governor convicted in three decades.
"But I feel confident in our appeal and there will be an appeal."
Ryan was convicted of all 18 counts against him -- racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, cheating on his taxes and lying to federal agents.
Longtime friend Larry Warner, 67, also was convicted by the jury of six men and six women, which was in the 11th day of deliberations after Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer replaced two of its members with alternates and ordered the panel to start its work over again.
Ryan was convicted of steering state contracts and leases to Warner and other insiders and in return accepting expense-paid vacations in Jamaica, California and Mexico as well as gifts ranging from $145,000 in loans for his brother's floundering business to a free golf bag.
He also was convicted of dipping into his campaign fund without paying taxes on the money.
Ryan defense attorney Dan K. Webb argued in vain that circumstantial evidence such as the sizable wads of cash that state troopers testified Ryan carried around with him proved nothing.
"We will begin working immediately on post-trial motions to try to get this verdict overturned," Webb told reporters.
Warner, whose attorney also plans an appeal, declined comment at the courthouse, but later told the Chicago Tribune that he wasn't prepared for the guilty verdicts.
"I've been trying not to have negative thoughts," Warner said. "I honestly thought I would walk."
Prosecutors who have been investigating corruption in the Ryan era for eight years were careful not to gloat after their sweeping victory in a pressure-filled, marathon court battle.
"We don't take joy in this verdict -- to know that the highest office in the State of Illinois was corrupted," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick M. Collins.
"We do take enormous pride in digging up the facts, bringing the case to court and bringing some justice to the people of the State of Illinois," he added.
Robert Grant, special agent in charge of the FBI's Chicago office, told reporters he hoped "this case begins the end of political prostitution that seems to have been evident in the State of Illinois and begins a resurrection of honest government and services in this state that so many people have demanded."
Ryan faces a maximum of 20 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine on the racketeering conspiracy count alone, although he most likely will get much less time. Prosecutors declined to say what sentence they will recommend.
Collins referred reporters to the 6 1/2 years now being served by Ryan's one-time top aide Scott Fawell as an example of a racketeering sentence in a related political case but stressed that prosecutors do not yet know if something similar would be appropriate for the former governor.
Pallmeyer set Aug. 4 for the sentencing.
In addition, prosecutors want Pallmeyer to order Ryan and Warner to forfeit $3 million -- the amount they say Warner took through fixed leases and contracts. Pallmeyer will rule on the forfeiture portion of the case later.
Jurors sought Monday to minimize friction that erupted on the jury after deliberations began.
Kevin Rein of Glen Ellyn, a carpenter, told reporters that prosecutors had presented "a pretty good pile of evidence." He said there was "no smoking gun" but added that the testimony of former Ryan employees including Fawell undermined the former governor's claim of innocence.
"They painted a different picture of what was going on," he said.
Two jurors were dropped from the panel March 28 and replaced with a pair of alternates. Persons of the same name had arrest records that were not mentioned on the questionnaires that all jurors filled out in September before the start of the trial.
A surprise came Monday afternoon when one of the dropped jurors, Evelyn Ezell of Chicago, said that had she remained on the jury there would have been a mistrial on some counts because she would not have voted to convict Ryan.
She said some of her fellow jurors seemed set on conviction from the start.
"I don't feel that the jurors were fair and impartial when you go into deliberations saying things like, 'If the rest of his cronies are guilty and they can go to jail, why can't he?' I mean, things like that were said," Ezell said.
None of the jurors said they were disillusioned with Illinois politics despite a far-reaching tapestry of corruption that emerged from the witness stand.
"I think he's just one bad egg in the whole basket," said James Cwick, 22, of Glen Ellyn, a loading dock supervisor. "There are many people who are doing a great job out there."
Republican gubernatorial candidate Judy Baar Topinka, who's links to Ryan were an issue in the March primary, said Tuesday before a breakfast in Chicago that the conviction hurts all politicians.
"Any time a politician goes south on us, it gives the public a feeling of 'they're all the same and life is terrible and maybe I don't want to go out and vote,"' the state treasurer said. "I think it also goes out to show that we do have standards, people do have integrity, everybody does not fall into the same basket and you will get good political leaders."
U.S. Attorney Patrick J. Fitzgerald said after the verdict that he hoped the Ryan verdict will discourage politicians from taking part in corruption. But he said the success in the Ryan trial would not make federal investigators complacent about hunting corruption.
"If they keep stealing, we'll keep chasing them," he said.
Video Library:
Tragic Crash, Whistleblower Set Ryan Investigation In Motion Ryan's Legal Road Is Far From Over After Verdict Dismissed Juror Said Jury Was Not Fair Or Impartial Ryan Trial Jury Has No Regrets About Verdict Suburban Woman Talks About Her Connection To George Ryan Dismissed Juror Says She Could Have Changed Ryan Trial Outcome Ryan, Warner Show Little Emotion During Verdict Ryan Defense Team Promises Appeal After Guilty Verdict Family Of 6 Children Killed In Fiery Crash Emotional About Verdict After Sentencing, What's Next For Former Gov. George Ryan? While Ryan Verdict Shocking To Some, Others Said It Was Expected Glimpse Inside The Minds Of The Jurors Who Decided Ryan's Fate A Sweeping, Surprise Verdict In The George Ryan Corruption Trial U.S. Atty. Fitzgerald And Prosecutor Collins Discuss Verdict Jurors Discuss Reaching The Ryan Verdict About The Ryan Jurors And What They Said Courtroom Sketches Capture Expressions Of Ryan, Jury Comments From The Ryan Trial Foreperson Little Emotion When Ryan Trial Guilty Verdict Announced Former Gov. Ryan Says He Will Appeal Guilty Verdict Ryan Sentencing Date Set For August Former Gov. Ryan Guilty On All Counts Willis Family Watches Closely For Ryan Verdict Waiting For The Ryan Verdict In The Courtroom Jon Duncanson On Gov. Ryan's Remarks About The Trial How Are The Jurors Dressed For The Verdict? Ryan And His Wife Enter Courtroom Ryan Trial Verdict Was A Long Time Coming Former Gov. Ryan Arrives At Courthouse A Look At The Jury Deciding Fate Of Ryan, Warner Recap Of Charges Against Former Gov. George Ryan Mike Flannery On Waiting For The Ryan Verdict Breaking News: Jury Reaches Verdict In Ryan Trial
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