Sep 6, 2006 6:27 pm US/Central
Ryan Expected To Serve Sentence At Wis. Prison
Ryan To Surrender On Jan. 4, 2007
by Dorothy Tucker
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Former Gov. George Ryan has asked to serve out his 6 1/2-year sentence at a prison in Oxford, Wis.
CBS
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Unlike maximum facilities where there are gates, guards and guns, Oxford is described as a camp.
CBS
Power lunches and complimentary trips to the Caribbean are history for former
Gov. George Ryan. He has requested to serve his 6 1/2-year prison sentence at a federal camp in Wisconsin.
CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker reports on what life will be like when he gets there.
Most inmates that are sentenced request to go to
Oxford, Wis., a minimum security prison three and half hours from Chicago. Unlike maximum facilities where there are gates, guards and guns, Oxford is described as a camp.
"You're not going to see the birdman of
Alcatraz when it comes to George Ryan. He is going to a federal prison camp which pretty much resembles a college dormitory," said CBS 2 legal analyst
Irv Miller.
But in this college Ryan will have to give up his suit and tie and replace it with an army green shirt and khakis. He will be on a strict schedule, up at 6:30 a.m., and will work a menial job for as little as 15 cents an hour, according to prison expert
Herbert Hoelter.
"The work is boring. There are jobs in food service, there are jobs in laundry, there are jobs as orderlies," Hoelter said.
When his job is done, Ryan will have free time to read or watch TV with the other inmates.
"Whoever is there first or who's the largest rules the screens," Hoelter said. "All they watch is police shows and lawyer shows."
The highlights of Ryan's days will undoubtedly be the weekend visits from his family, but it will also be a low point.
"Visiting becomes very difficult, more so on the inmate then on the family. The family gets to leave at 3:30 p.m. The inmate has to stay there and feel the guilt and remorse of having failed," Hoelter said.
"And the most dehumanizing factor -- every time he has contact with the outside world he has to go through a strip search," Miller said.
Ryan will serve his time with a prison population that is predominately black and Hispanic. The majority have been convicted of drug-related crimes.
Because of his fight against the death penalty, experts say Ryan will garner a huge amount of support behind bars. And most inmates will probably address him as "governor."
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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