From The Chicago Sun-Times:

Ex-Ryan aide loses retirement benefits

January 23, 2002

BY DAVE MCKINNEY SUN-TIMES SPRINGFIELD BUREAU

SPRINGFIELD--Dean Bauer, a lifelong friend of Gov. Ryan who covered up corruption probes in the Ryan-led secretary of state office, lost his retirement benefits Tuesday.

The State Employee Retirement Systems Board stripped Bauer of the perks because of his felony conviction in the federal government's ongoing bribes-for-licenses probe. Bauer stands to lose up to $1,021 per month.

Assuming the panel's decision withstands a possible appeal by Bauer, the move would cost him his life insurance and, most significantly, his state health insurance.

The loss of medical benefits could be particularly devastating given Bauer's recurrent problems with cancer. His attorney, Edward Genson, said Bauer has no other health coverage.

Last November, Bauer began a yearlong prison term at a federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Ind., after pleading guilty to obstructing justice in late 1999. Bauer admitted asking a former colleague in the secretary of state's office to destroy two documents under subpoena by federal prosecutors. One outlined suspicions that the trucker in a 1994 crash that killed six Chicago area children obtained his license illegally.

State law allows for pension benefits to be canceled if a retired state worker is convicted of a felony arising from his state job.

"The board determined his conviction fit within that statute,'' said Robert Knox, associate executive secretary of the State Retirement Systems.

Genson characterized Tuesday's decision as politically motivated and said his client had not decided whether to appeal the loss of his retirement benefits in circuit court. Bauer has 35 days to decide.

"It's unfortunate. It's difficult for me to understand how they can take away a pension based on activities that took place a year after he left the agency,'' Genson said, referring to how Bauer obstructed justice while employed by the Illinois Department of Transportation, not the secretary of state.

"Most of these decisions are political. It looks better for them,'' Genson said of the retirement board's move.