From the Chicago Tribune

Key Ryan aide pleads guilty to lying in probe
By Matt O'Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published April 22, 2004
A former key member of ex-Gov. George Ryan's "kitchen cabinet" pleaded
guilty Wednesday to lying to a federal grand jury investigating Operation
Safe Road, but he declined to cooperate with law enforcement in its
continuing probe.
Arthur "Ron" Swanson, a high-powered lobbyist for three decades, admitted
that he did little or no work in the first year of a lucrative lobbying
assignment arranged from him by Ryan at McCormick Place.
Swanson, who was named in Ryan's racketeering indictment in December as an
unindicted co-schemer based on their allegedly corrupt relationship, pleaded
guilty to one count of perjury. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss six other
counts at Swanson's sentencing.
Swanson had been charged with lying to the grand jury about pocketing a
$50,000 lobbying fee to win a new state prison for a southern Illinois town
even though he knew Ryan had already decided to place it there.
Although Swanson didn't agree to cooperate with authorities, he could be
subpoenaed to testify at Ryan's trial next year. His sentencing was
postponed so his trial testimony could be considered at sentencing.
Swanson, a state senator in the 1960s, faces a sentence of probation and
home confinement at a minimum and 12 months in prison at the maximum,
Assistant U.S. Atty. Joel Levin said.
Swanson pleaded guilty to perjury for lying to a grand jury about his
lobbying job with the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, McPier for
short, which runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier.
According to his plea agreement, Swanson told Ryan soon after he took office
as governor in 1999 that he was interested in lobbying for McPier. A short
time later, Swanson was hired by McPier and paid an annual retainer of
$60,000 a year.
At the time, McPier was headed by Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott
Fawell, who is serving a 6 1/2-year sentence for corruption and facing
charges of wrongdoing at McPier.
According to the charges and sources, another McPier official instructed its
outside lobbyist, the Chicago law firm Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw, to hire
Swanson as an additional lobbyist even though the firm was not looking for
help.
Swanson admitted Wednesday that he performed virtually no lobbying or
consulting work during the first year he held the job at McPier. In
testifying before the grand jury last July, Swanson falsely claimed to have
talked with legislators and met with Mayer Brown representatives every two
to four weeks.
Swanson's lawyers, James Streicker and Theodore Poulos, had previously
sought to have the indictment thrown out, accusing prosecutors of setting "a
perjury trap" by repeatedly calling Swanson before the grand jury and
questioning him for hours.
The defense maintained that Swanson, 77, suffers from a number of ailments
that may have impaired his thinking and memory. In court Wednesday, Swanson
appeared lucid, though his lawyers say he takes medication daily for a host
of medical problems, including diabetes, anxiety and seizures.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune