From the Associated Press

Ryan: "I will not plea bargain"
December 23, 2003
BY MAURA KELLY ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Gov. George Ryan pleaded innocent to federal corruption charges
Tuesday and declared he would "fight hard" against allegations that he had
dishonored his office by taking payoffs, gifts and vacations in return for
letting associates profit from state contracts and leases.
"I'm absolutely not guilty of those charges," Ryan said in a news conference
at his lawyer's office.
"I will not plea bargain. I'll go to trial and establish my innocence," said
Ryan, who did not take any questions.
Ryan's defense attorney, Dan Webb, entered the plea of not guilty to charges
of racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud, filing false tax returns
and making false statements to agents investigating corruption. Ryan
answered "I do" four times when U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer asked
whether he understood the charges.
Pallmeyer set a $4,500 personal recognizance bond, which Ryan signed; he did
not have to post cash.
At the news conference, Webb said federal prosecutors were trying to turn
the give-and-take of governing into a crime.
"The government has cobbled together a number of unrelated acts, innocent
acts that are nothing more than the fabric of what goes on in Illinois
politics and Illinois government. They are not crimes, they are innocent
acts," Webb said.
The 22-count indictment announced last Wednesday against Ryan and lobbyist
friend Larry Warner could send them to prison for years. Warner, who
allegedly collected at least $3.1 million through his insider status with
Ryan, pleaded innocent Friday.
The attorneys spent much of the hearing debating whether Ryan and Warner
should be tried together, as federal prosecutors wish. Warner had been
charged before the superseding indictment last week that named Ryan as a
defendant for the first time. Warner's attorney wants to go to trial in
early 2004, but Webb said he would need up to 15 months to prepare Ryan's
defense.
Pallmeyer said she would prefer not to split the cases and asked the
attorneys to file written briefs on the matter. She also set a Jan. 16
status hearing for both men.
Prosecutors allege that Ryan and members of his family shared in $167,000 in
graft that included payoffs, free vacations and cash siphoned out of his
campaign fund and camouflaged as expenses.
The indictment is the latest in the government's 5 1/2-year Operation Safe
Road investigation of corruption under Ryan that began as an inquiry into
bribes paid for drivers licenses.
Ryan becomes the 66th person charged in the investigation and the fourth
former Illinois governor to be indicted by a federal grand jury in as many
decades.
Ryan, a Republican known worldwide as a leading critic of the death penalty,
gradually became the focus of the corruption investigation. The growing
scandal was a factor in Ryan's 2001 decision not to seek a second term.
The indictment alleged Ryan worked to sabotage the federal investigation by
essentially dismantling the inspector general's office when he was secretary
of state.Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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