Fawell aide admits perjury
Coutretsis expected to help prosecutors
December 4, 2003
By MIKE RAMSEY
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
CHICAGO - The longtime assistant to jailed racketeer Scott Fawell pleaded guilty to perjury Wednesday and is expected to help federal prosecutors delve into alleged corruption at the Chicago "McPier" agency, which Fawell headed under former Gov. George Ryan.
Alexandra "Andrea" Coutretsis, 34, also known as Andrea Prokos, was indicted in May and accused of lying to a grand jury on six occasions in 2001 and 2002. The panel was investigating past misconduct within the Illinois secretary of state's office and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which oversees Navy Pier and the McCormick Place convention center.
Fawell was Ryan's top aide in the secretary of state's office for much of the 1990s, engineered his successful 1998 Republican bid for governor, then ran McPier as Gov. Ryan's $200,000-a-year appointee. Coutretsis worked closely with Fawell during those periods and, his attorney has said, was romantically involved with him.
Her inside knowledge is expected to bolster the government's continuing "Operation Safe Road" probe into the Ryan-era secretary of state's office. That effort has yielded 59 convictions and the newer investigation into McPier.
Prosecutors say indictments in the latter case will come within 60 to 90 days. Coutretsis, who resides in Long Grove, will face separate charges and is expected to plead guilty.
She had previously pleaded innocent to the perjury charges. U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said Coutretsis was "looking to make the best out of a bad situation she put herself in, by cooperating with the government.
"She obviously helps advance the ball in the McPier case, and I think it's a significant development," he said during a news conference.
In her plea agreement Wednesday, Coutretsis acknowledged she lied to the grand jury in an attempt to protect Fawell and other high-ranking officials in the secretary of state's office. In the one perjury count to which she pleaded guilty, she admitted she falsely said there was no significance to Fawell's "master list" of political favors.
The government and Coutretsis agreed to a prison sentence of 12 months under the deal tentatively approved by U.S. Northern District Judge James Holderman. The maximum term is five years, officials said.
Coutretsis, who is divorced and has two small children, appeared composed as she tersely answered a series of questions from Holderman during a brief hearing.
Neither she nor her Chicago attorney, Cynthia Giacchetti, offered comment later. Authorities helped them sneak out of the Dirksen Federal Building to avoid reporters and camera crews assembled in the lobby.
In March, jurors convicted Fawell of racketeering after an eight-week trial. He was accused of diverting taxpayer resources for political purposes, fixing contracts for cronies and trying to cover up wrongdoing during Ryan's terms as secretary of state.
Witnesses said Coutretsis played a role in some of the activities, including an ill-fated attempt in late 1999 to burn incriminating documents in a barbecue.
Fawell last month began serving a 61/2-year sentence at a federal prison in Yankton, S.D.
The McPier investigation remains under wraps, but prosecutors have said Fawell used McCormick Place's hotel for personal purposes at taxpayer expense.
In addition, the government has said a McPier official arranged for Ryan friend and lobbyist Arthur "Ron" Swanson, who was indicted for perjury in August, to receive an annual $60,000 retainer fee from 2000 to 2003 but that Swanson did little work for the money. Also, Chicago newspaper and television reports have said lobbyist Al Ronan is part of the McPier probe. He has not been charged with wrongdoing.
"The MPEA has provided extensive cooperation to federal authorities since they initiated their inquiries," said Billy Weinberg, the McPier spokesman under new CEO Leticia Peralta Davis. "Based on everything we know, we do not believe any current MPEA employees were engaged in the conduct that's under investigation."
Fitzgerald said developments in the McPier case do not signal the end of Safe Road, which began five years ago by looking into the illegal sale of commercial drivers' licenses. It has moved closer to Ryan.
"The focus is on Safe Road and McPier," the prosecutor said. "We're going full steam ahead on both fronts."
Ryan, who retired as governor in January after a single term, has not been criminally charged.