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CBS 2's Derrick Blakely also contributed to this report.
CHICAGO (CBS) ― When George Ryan faces sentencing, the testimony is certain to be quite emotional.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine spoke the Rev. Scott Willis, who believes corruption in Ryan's office played a major role in the deaths of his six children. Willis now wants to tell his story to the judge, with the former governor in the court room forced to listen.

"We would probably have preferred a one-on-one with the governor, but it wasn't to be," Willis said in a phone interview Thursday evening.

The Willis family's attorney, who represented them in a civil case, believes it's important that Willis be heard.

"It puts a face on public corruption and the need for accountability when it's allowed to occur," attorney Joseph Power said.

Twelve years ago, Willis' children died in a fiery inferno on Interstate 94 outside Milwaukee, when their family van was struck by a mudguard assembly that broke off the truck in front of them.

Investigators found unqualified truck driver Ricardo Guzman illegally bought his Illinois license when Ryan was still Illinois Secretary of State; part of a scheme that ultimately funneled cash to Ryan's campaign.

"By giving him a license, letting him pay a bribe in order to get is license, that was the first step in this tragedy for which Mr. Ryan is ultimately accountable as secretary of state," Powers said.

For his part, Willis said it was difficult to forgive the former governor, who has maintained his innocence even after the verdict.

"I think the incident of squashing the investigation was done willfully, that was a criminal act," Willis said in June.

When asked if he could forgive Ryan, Willis said, "I can absolutely." When asked if he has, Willis said, "Well, forgiveness comes with admission."

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said she's inclined to let Willis speak for 15 minutes. But defense attorneys want written statements only, arguing Willis' testimony could be inflammatory.

Legal analyst Irv Miller said that "for the Willises to testify five minutes before the judge is to impose a sentence in the case is an extremely prejudicial, gut wrenching type of evidence that's going to have an effect on any normal person and certainly would have an effect on Judge Pallmeyer."

But the Willises said their goal is not more jail time for Ryan.

"That's up to the judge," Rev. Willis told Levine Thursday evening. "We'll accept whatever the judge decides, and [our goal] is more information… just getting out our heart what we want to say, not trying to influence the judge. "

Judge Pallmeyer is expected to rule Friday on whether Willis can testify at the sentencing, one week from today.

Late Thursday afternoon, Ryan's lawyers asked the judge to sentence him to just 30 months in prison.

Ryan's lawyers urged Pallmeyer to give the former governor a break when she sentences him, saying he is old and sick and "has been publicly and universally humiliated."

"The public shaming that Ryan has endured combined with the impending loss of his pension greatly lessens the need for the court to punish through the sentencing process," Ryan's lawyers said in court papers.

They said the 72-year-old Ryan has reached "advanced age" and if given a sentence like the six-year term his top aide received for a similar conviction "it is highly likely that he will die in prison."

"It is not necessary to impose a life sentence to reflect the seriousness of the offense," they told Pallmeyer.

Ryan was convicted April 18 along with a longtime friend, businessman Larry Warner, of engaging in corruption when he was secretary of state and later governor. The verdict followed a 7-month trial.

The husky-voiced one-time Kankakee pharmacist who rose to become the state's most powerful politician was convicted of every count against him -- racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud, and lying to FBI agents.

Ryan was accused in the indictment of steering lucrative contracts to Warner and other insiders, using taxpayer dollars for his campaign and acting to kill investigations that could have uncovered corruption.

He still denies the allegations and says he did nothing illegal.

The trial was the climax of an eight-year investigation that has resulted in the conviction of 75 state employees, lobbyists, drivers licensing officials, driving instructors and others. No one was acquitted.

Ryan's lawyers said he should get a light sentence in part because he suffers from Crohn's disease, diabetes and diverticulitis and has multiple risk factors for heart disease including high cholesterol.

"Even a sentence of no more than 30 months could take away the last healthy years of his life," they said. They said stress resulting from the case also represents a danger to his health.

They noted that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign has been attempting to discredit Republican challenger Judy Baar Topinka with television ads showing her dancing the polka with Ryan.

"His name has become synonymous with misconduct and betrayal," they said. "He has been publicly and universally humiliated as a result of this investigation, trial and conviction."

Prosecutors haven't tipped their hand as to how much time they will ask Pallmeyer to impose on Ryan, but the court papers filed by his attorneys indicated the government may seek to boost the sentence above what might normally be called for under advisory federal sentencing guidelines.

Ryan's lawyers indicated that the pre-sentence report on Ryan given to the judge -- which is not public record -- contains possible recommendations of extra time for obstruction of justice and other alleged conduct.

Under the letter of the law, Ryan could get 20 years on the racketeering conspiracy count alone, but it is unlikely Pallmeyer will impose such a sentence. His former top aide, Scott Fawell, got a sentence of 78 months.

Ryan's lawyers also revealed that Ryan's wife, Lura Lynn, is now battling a brain aneurysm and asked that Ryan remain free while the guilty verdict is appealed. Such appeal bonds are rarely granted.

Pallmeyer said she also might sentence Larry Warner at a separate hearing two hours after Ryan.

Scott Willis and his wife Janet received a $100 million settlement from the crash, and have since have been living near Nashville. They say most of the settlement proceeds have gone to various religious charities, including Kids' Club, an after-school tutoring program at Chicago's Cabrini Green Public Housing Complex.

(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)