From the Chicago Tribune

Jailed Ryan aide indicted in bid-rigging case
Associated Press
Published February 10, 2004, 2:13 PM CST
Former Gov. George Ryan's longtime top aide, already serving prison time for
racketeering, was charged today along with four other people and a lobbying
firm in an alleged $11.5 million bid-rigging scheme as prosecutors stepped
up pressure on him to turn federal witness and provide evidence against his
one-time boss.
Scott Fawell, 46, was accused of providing inside information to a
contractor, Jacobs Facilities Inc. of St. Louis, that enabled the company to
lower its bid on a major government contract from $18.8 million to $11.5
million and eventually land the job.
The contract was for an expansion at the massive McCormick Place exposition
center on Chicago's downtown lakefront.
Also charged were Fawell's top assistant, Andrea Coutretsis, two former
Jacobs Facilities employees, the Chicago based lobbying firm of Ronan Potts,
and a former Ronan Potts employee, Julie Starsiak.
Lobbyist Al Ronan, a major Ryan fundraiser and head of Ronan Potts, was not
charged in the nine-count indictment.
The indictment also alleges that Fawell engaged in a fraud scheme by
misusing funds of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, which
operates McCormick Place, and awarding bogus contracts and favors to
vendors.
Fawell was campaign manager and chief of staff under Ryan when Ryan was
secretary of state in the 1990s. After Ryan was elected governor, he
appointed Fawell to head of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.
The fresh indictments bring the number of state employees and other charged
in the nearly 6-year Operation Safe Road investigation to 69. Fawell and
Coutretsis had previously been indicted, and Coutretsis in December pleaded
guilty to perjury charges and agreed to become a federal witness.
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