From the Chicago Sun-Times

'The state of Illinois was for sale'
December 18, 2003
BY STEVE WARMBIR AND TIM NOVAK Staff Reporters

For years, whispered tales of corruption dogged George Ryan.On Wednesday, the whispers turned into a news conference.
The feds unleashed a barrage of criminal charges against the former
governor, alleging he helped put state contracts and leases up for sale for
his pals, while taking cash, loans, gifts and trips for himself or his
family.
"What we allege is that the state of Illinois was taken advantage of by Ryan
and his greedy friends," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said at a news
conference Wednesday afternoon, televised live.
Ryan, 69, of Kankakee, whose political career had already been ended by the
corruption scandal, is the sixth Illinois governor in history to be charged
criminally. Ryan was charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail and tax
fraud and lying to the FBI. He could face seven to nine years in prison if
convicted.

HOW THE TRAIL OF CORRUPTION LEADS TO EX-GOV. RYAN66 INDICTED, 59 CONVICTED:

The political corruption probe Operation Safe
Road was sparked by the sale of truck driver's licenses for bribes under
then-Secretary of State George Ryan. Among the 59 people convicted under
Operation Safe Road are Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott Fawell; his
inspector general, Dean Bauer, and his close friend and adviser Donald
Udstuen.

IT BEGINS WITH A CRASH IN MILWAUKEE
Ryan was celebrating his re-election as secretary of state in November 1994
when six children in the Willis family were killed in a freak accident in
Milwaukee. Their parents' van ran over a piece of metal that fell off a
truck, and the van burst into flames. Questions arose over how truck driver
Ricardo Guzman got his license in Illinois. No one realized the crash also
would trigger the biggest political scandal in Illinois history.

THE CRASH LEADS TO THE LICENSES-FOR-BRIBES INVESTIGATION
The Willis family hired one of Chicago's top trial lawyers, Joe Power, who
doggedly pursued allegations that Ryan's staff sold licenses to unqualified
drivers in exchange for bribes and then tried to cover up what they did.
Power's allegations began surfacing during Ryan's 1998 campaign for
governor. Power won a $100 million settlement for the Willis family and
sparked the Operation Safe Road investigation. Among the 66 people indicted
so far (including Ryan) was Dean Bauer, a longtime Ryan friend who headed
the inspector general's office. He eventually pleaded guilty to obstructing
investigations.

THE INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS MORE CORRUPTION IN THE RYAN ADMINISTRATION
Bauer led federal investigators in new directions, eventually pointing to
Scott Fawell, the chief of staff in the secretary of state's office who also
managed Ryan's campaign for governor. Ryan decided not to seek a second term
as governor in 2002, and federal investigators soon began indicting Ryan's
closest advisers, starting with Fawell.

THIS NEW ARM OF THE INVESTIGATION LEADS TO INDICTMENTS OF RYAN'S INNER
CIRCLE
One by one, Ryan's inner circle found themselves charged with
influence-peddling and corruption. Donald Udstuen, one of the most powerful
behind-the-scenes players, quickly pleaded guilty and began cooperating.
Larry Warner, another Ryan loyalist, is still fighting the charges. Warner
was re-indicted Wednesday.

THE CASE AGAINST GEORGE RYAN
The former governor could face 7 to 9 years in prison* 1 count of racketeering conspiracy
* 9 counts of mail fraud
* 3 counts of lying to FBI agents
* 1 count of tax fraud
* 4 counts of filing false income tax returnsA STATEMENT FROM THE WILLIS FAMILY
The driver's license investigation was launched in reaction to a fiery
November 1994 expressway accident in Wisconsin that killed six of the
children of the Rev. Scott Willis and his wife, Janet. A truck driver
involved was believed to have received his license through bribery at the
secretary of state's corruption-plagued McCook licensing center. Following
is a statement from Willis and his wife about Wednesday's indictment:
We began our lawsuit to simply find answers to our questions. Little did we
know where that would lead. We understand that a person is innocent until
proven guilty. However we are very grateful to have come to this point.
We thank [our attorney] Joe Power for his courage in opening the case and
his determination to do right. We are also thankful to the media for being
gracious toward us and for keeping the case before the public, to the
federal prosecutors for their hard work in continuing their investigation,
and to the many who have encouraged us and kept us in their prayers.
Janet and I have prayed and will continue to pray that justice will be done.
We have also asked God to keep us from bitterness and give us strength to go
on with whatever He would have us to do.

The former governor is the 66th person indicted in the Operation Safe Road
investigation led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins. The five-year
investigation began looking at secretary of state workers selling driver's
licenses for bribes when Ryan ran the agency. Investigators followed the
corruption -- which at times appeared to crop up wherever they looked and
included some of Ryan's closest friends -- and came to Ryan himself.
"What we're alleging in the indictment basically is that the state of
Illinois was for sale, for friends and family at times," Fitzgerald said.
"It was cronyism where contracts were awarded to people, people were given
inside information, they were acting upon it, and at times George Ryan was
stepping into the process to make sure those interests were taken care of."
Ryan looked out for his friends, covered up his crimes and continued
committing them even after FBI agents interrogated him. In return, those
friends looked after Ryan and his family in a variety of ways, the feds
allege.
One Ryan pal invested $6,000 in his son's cigar store, according to the
indictment and sources.
The same friend lent $145,000 to a start-up firm that Ryan's brother,
Thomas, helped create to monitor prisoners on house arrest.
Another Ryan friend allegedly paid for part of a trip to Disney World for
the family of one of Ryan's children.
And yet another Ryan crony, who benefitted from a sweet state lease,
provided free lodging in Jamaica for the governor.
Different death penalty defenseRyan's attorney, Dan K. Webb, vowed a vigorous defense, pointing up two
issues: Ryan's passion for justice and paucity of money.
"Most recently, [Ryan] has achieved worldwide renown as the only governor in
the history of our nation to have the courage to reform a state's
broken-down death penalty system that was putting innocent people on Death
Row. The jurors will identify with his courage and public service," Webb
said.
He also argued Ryan "has accumulated no personal wealth and has a very
modest lifestyle. He makes ends meet each month based on Social Security
payments and a job pension." Ryan receives a yearly pension of $128,087,
which will increase next month to $185,727, state records show.
Prosecutors, though, suggest that Ryan received at the very least $167,000
from close pal Larry Warner, a Republican businessman who allegedly
benefitted to the tune of millions of dollars from Ryan's help. The feds
suggested that number was a bare minimum.
In addition to passing along money to Ryan, Warner shared the wealth he
allegedly received while improperly influencing secretary of state
contracts. Ryan allegedly directed more than $300,000 of that money to
another friend at the time, Donald Udstuen, a former high-powered lobbyist.
Warner has already been charged criminally. In fact, Ryan was added
Wednesday as a criminal defendant to the case pending against Warner. The
longtime dinner companions could share a trial.
Udstuen, though, has not stayed loyal to his pal the former governor.
Udstuen has pleaded guilty in his own corruption case and is cooperating
with the feds.
Also included in the circle of indicted Ryan friends is longtime Republican
lobbyist Arthur "Ron" Swanson, who is charged with seven counts of perjury
for allegedly lying to a grand jury to cover up for Ryan. Ryan allegedly
helped swing lobbying work to Swanson, whether it was working for a
Wisconsin energy company or the agency that runs McCormick Place and Navy
Pier. Swanson's attorney, Theodore Poulos, declined to comment.
While many of the allegations against Ryan had come out before in other
cases, including the trial of his former right-hand man Scott Fawell,
federal prosecutors on Wednesday presented a detailed overview for the first
time. Fawell was convicted of political corruption earlier this year and
sentenced to 61/2 years in prison.
Road to corruptionThe feds allege that corruption began in 1991 after Ryan was first elected
secretary of state and carried well through his two terms there and into the
governor's office, which he left early this year.
When Ryan ran the secretary of state's office, Warner either allegedly shook
down existing contract holders for money if they wanted to continue working
for the office or got money from firms seeking fresh business with the
state.
Take, for instance, computer contracts. Honeywell/Bull had the contract for
the mainframe computer at the secretary of state's office when Ryan took
office.
Warner, Udstuen and later Swanson allegedly met with a representative of the
computer firm and essentially tried to shake the company down for $1 million
to keep the state business, the feds allege. The firm refused and complained
to Ryan.
Ryan said he had too much to lose and would get to the bottom of what his
advisers were up to, according to the federal indictment.
Instead, the feds say, Ryan let Warner and Udstuen recommend an employee who
would oversee the computer contract. That person in turn picked IBM, which
had a deal with Warner. Warner received more than $990,000 from IBM, based
on what it received in state contracts.
In another area, Ryan was even more active in helping his pal Warner. Warner
allegedly had a similar kickback deal with a Chicago firm, American Decal
Manufacturing, which provided validation stickers for drivers' licenses.
Ryan scolded a high-ranking state employee who dealt with the sticker
contract, telling him to return Warner's phone calls promptly and not to get
too close to a competitor of American Decal.
And when there was a unanimous recommendation to change the specs on the
validation stickers -- a change that would have hurt American Decal -- Ryan
told the employee to go back through the bureaucracy quietly and change
things back, the indictment alleges.
Warner didn't work at the secretary of state's office but pretty much had
run of the agency, the feds allege.
Ryan also signed off on three leases for secretary of state offices that
helped out Warner and another friend, Harry Klein, a Republican developer
and businessman. The feds allege that Ryan would stay at Klein's homes in
Jamaica and California on vacation and engage in sham financial transactions
to act as if he were paying for it. In fact, Ryan is accused of continuing
to do this as governor even after federal agents asked him about it.
On Wednesday, reaction varied from outrage to delight over Ryan's
indictment.
Joe Power was the attorney for Scott and Janet Willis, whose six children
died in a fiery accident in Wisconsin involving a driver who had illegally
received his driver's license in Illinois.
"It's a sad day for Illinois to know that the people of Illinois elected to
the secretary of state's office, as well as the governor's office, a serial
criminal."
Ryan and his chief aide were accused of helping cover up crimes in the
secretary of state's office, partly by dismantling the agency's inspector
general's office.
"I'm overjoyed by the outcome," said one former investigator in the office,
Ed Hammer. "It makes a wonderful Christmas present."
But one of the Death Row inmates whom Ryan freed on Jan. 10, Aaron
Patterson, promised to protest the case against the former governor and
Nobel Prize nominee.
"I am outraged the feds would indict Gov. Ryan," Patterson said. "He took a
bold step in releasing me and three other guys on pardons. We will
wholeheartedly support Gov. George Ryan and we will fill the courtroom up."
Contributing: Michael Sneed, Dave McKinney, Abdon Pallasch, Frank Main
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