BARACUTEY CUBANO

Chicago Tribune: Condenado Ex gobernador antiembargo,

2006-9-7

Por Antonio Rafael de la Cova.

George Ryan, amigo de Fidel Castro, convicto
El ex gobernador de Illinois, George Ryan, quien en octobre 1999 se reunió siete horas con Fidel Castro y públicamente pidió el levantamiento unilateral del embargo norteamericano a Cuba,
acaba de ser condenado a seis años y medio de presidio por fraude y chanchullos.

Vea la noticia completa en el Chicago Tribune

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Ryan gets 61/2 years
Former governor carefully avoids admitting criminal wrongdoing

By Matt O’Connor and Rudolph Bush
Tribune staff reporters
Published September 6, 2006, 11:08 PM CDT


George Ryan, the Republican governor whose bold clearing of Death Row won international praise but whose old-style political ways led to a sweeping federal corruption conviction, was sentenced Wednesday to 6½ years in prison on what he acknowledged was the saddest day of his life.

In court, Ryan, a former pharmacist from Kankakee, struggled briefly with his emotions as he delivered the closest thing yet to an apology. Ryan, however, carefully avoided admitting criminal wrongdoing.

The former governor told the judge he deeply regretted that his conviction caused a loss of faith in government, saying, "When they elected me as governor of this state, they expected better, and I let them down, and for that I apologize."

Ryan said his greatest anxiety concerned the impact his imprisonment will have on Lura Lynn, his wife of more than 50 years. "It's really very excruciating for both of us for that to happen," said Ryan, clearing his throat as he appeared to choke back emotion. "I am going to need a glass of water," he said.

As Ryan spoke, his wife wept and relatives passed a box of tissues among themselves.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer called Ryan "a very complicated human being" who as a public official did good things but who also damaged people's faith in government.

"The real harm done by public corruption is the confidence citizens have that their government is playing by the rules," she said. "Cynicism is inconsistent with patriotism."

Ryan was snared in an eight-year federal probe that exposed rampant bribery in state driver's license facilities while he was secretary of state. The investigation has been among the most successful in modern Chicago history in reach and significance, with 75 convictions.

Lawyers for Ryan, 72, had sought a sentence of 2½ years in prison, saying they feared anything much longer could amount to a death sentence. He suffers from Crohn's disease and diabetes, they said.

Pallmeyer also sentenced Ryan's co-defendant and longtime friend, Lawrence Warner, to almost 3½ years in prison on Wednesday. Warner also agreed to forfeit $1.7 million in ill-gotten profits.

In April, following a nearly six-month trial, a federal jury convicted Ryan of steering millions of dollars in state business to Warner and other friends in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits to Ryan and his family.

Ryan was also convicted of gutting corruption-fighting efforts and misusing state resources for political gain.

Ryan was the third former governor in Illinois history to be convicted of wrongdoing, all since the 1970s. Otto Kerner received 3 years in prison in 1973 for taking bribes while governor in the late 1960s; he was paroled after serving a year. Dan Walker was sentenced in 1987 to 7 years for bank fraud unrelated to his public duties but was released after 17½ months.

At the request of defense lawyers, Pallmeyer delayed the date Ryan and Warner must surrender to prison until after Christmas.

Ryan still hopes to convince the judge that he should remain free until his appeal has been decided months down the line.

In his remarks in court, Ryan, in his booming baritone voice, spoke of his humble beginnings and said his father taught him that each generation had an obligation to make life better for the next.

Ryan also said his father told him that "there is no right way to do the wrong thing."

"I tried to practice my life with that in mind," Ryan said.

Saying he had a bit of a cold, Ryan declared that Wednesday was "without question the saddest day of my life."

But he forcefully added: "I am proud of the life I have had."

In 36 years of public office, Ryan said he had been steadfast in keeping "the trust that my constituents have placed in me."

He appeared to deflect blame on others by saying he had not been vigilant enough as secretary of state, the elected post he held before his one term as governor.

"The jury's verdict speaks for itself in showing that I simply didn't do enough," Ryan said. "Should have been more vigilant. Should have been more watchful. Should have been a lot of things, I guess.

"My charge in public office was to maintain and instill public confidence in the integrity of the government," he added. "I tried to do that, but I obviously failed."

Prosecutors weren't impressed with Ryan's tone. After the sentencing, Assistant U.S. Atty. Patrick Collins, the lead prosecutor in the federal Operation Safe Road probe, said Ryan "unfortunately remained defiant today."

"I was very much hoping ... if the judge was going to provide some mercy, it would be based on a heartfelt apology, and I didn't hear that," Collins said.

As he left the courthouse, Ryan's lead attorney, Dan Webb, again promised an appeal based largely on Pallmeyer's decision to dismiss two jurors during deliberations and bring in alternates to continue the trial.

The jurors were dismissed after Tribune reports that both had concealed arrest records during jury selection.

"Based on the jury deliberations, we are very hopeful that someday this conviction will be reversed and George Ryan will be vindicated and this conviction will be put behind him," Webb said.

Two Ryan jurors on opposite sides of the controversial deliberations had different opinions about the sentence.

Evelyn Ezell, who was kicked off the jury during deliberations for failing to reveal a history of arrests, said Ryan's sentence was unfair. Before she was removed from the jury, Ezell had been the sole holdout against Ryan's conviction.

"Six-and-a-half years is too much. It shouldn't be any years," she said.

Juror Denise Peterson, who deliberated through the verdict but came under scrutiny for bringing outside legal material into the jury room, said she thought Ryan would get more time than he did.

"I don't want to send anybody to jail, but he was totally guilty. The evidence was overwhelming," she said.

Pallmeyer rejected a government bid to stiffen Ryan's sentence for his scuttling internal investigations into the link between political fundraising and the selling of driver's licenses for bribes. Prosecutors contended the coverup risked death and bodily injury.

As a result of the ruling, Ryan faced up to 8 years in prison, not 10 years, as prosecutors hoped.

Pallmeyer also dismissed two counts of Ryan's 18-count conviction, one for a fraudulent lease with Warner and the other for leaking the selection of a state prison site to a friend who improperly profited on the tip.

Prosecutors sought to have Ryan sentenced to a lengthier prison term than Scott Fawell, Ryan's former top aide, who is serving 6½ years in prison, contending the former governor's conduct was more egregious.

Collins took issue with the contention in many of the more than 100 letters written on Ryan's behalf that Ryan had been betrayed by friends.

"He betrayed the public trust," Collins said of Ryan.

Collins also disputed many of the letter writers' contention that Ryan had displayed courage in public office, saying that was sadly lacking at several key junctures in his two terms as secretary of state.

Webb contended that Ryan had striven to do the right thing is his public life and cited his commutation of all Death Row inmates' sentences despite widespread public support for the death penalty.

Webb's voice broke with emotion when he said the greatest punishment Ryan faced was separation from his wife.

"It's going to be an enormous punishment on George Ryan," Webb said.

Following his sentencing Wednesday, Ryan was able to avoid a horde of reporters in the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse lobby by being whisked through an underground entrance.

A spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service said U.S. District Chief Judge James Holderman ordered the measure.

At Ryan's side throughout the afternoon was his longtime political ally, former Gov. James R. Thompson, whose law firm footed the cost of Ryan's multimillion-dollar defense.

Tribune staff reporter Brendan McCarthy contributed to this report.

mo'connor@tribune.com

rrbush@tribune.com