From the Chicago Tribune

Jailed Ryan aide indicted in bid-rigging
Feds allege kickbacks in McCormick Place contract
By Matt O'Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published February 10, 2004
Former Gov. George Ryan's handpicked man to run McCormick Place as well as
one of the state's most powerful lobbying firms were indicted today on
charges of providing inside bid information to an engineering company in
return for kickbacks.
The scheme enabled the bidder to win an $11.5 million construction
management contract in 2001 for an $800 million expansion of the lakefront
exposition complex, according to U.S. Atty. Patrick J. Fitzgerald.
"I note that it's a striking development to take a contracting process and
trace through illegal conduct from inside McPier, through a lobbying firm,
to a company that made a bid based upon the inside information," Fitzgerald
said at an afternoon news conference in Chicago to announce the indictment.
"Today's charges … send a clear message we won't tolerate this sort of
conduct," Fitzgerald said.
Scott Fawell, already in prison for corruption during Ryan's scandal-scarred
tenure as secretary of state, was painted in the indictment as a brazen
fixer who went ahead with the kickback scheme even though he knew he federal
investigators were breathing down his neck.
Fawell, 46, formerly of St. Charles, was chief executive officer of the
Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority at the time of the alleged
scheme. He was given the job as his reward for engineering Ryan's election
as governor in 1998. The authority, known as McPier, operates McCormick
Place and Navy Pier
The federal probe of Fawell's tenure there was an offshoot of the Operation
Safe Road investigation, which to date has resulted in charges against 71
individuals – including at least 30 current or former state employees or
officials – and 59 convictions.
Ryan himself was indicted in December on charges he and his family received
illegal payoffs in return for steering lucrative state contracts to friends.
Today's indictment charged that the Jacobs Facilities Inc., a St.
Louis-based client of the Ronan Potts LLC lobbying firm, dropped its initial
bid by more than $7 million to win the McCormick Place contract after
Fawell's top aide, Andrea Coutretsis, provided the confidential bids of
rivals.
Fawell and Ronan Potts face federal mail and wire fraud charges under the
indictment.
Coutretsis, 34, of Long Grove, who also was Fawell's girlfriend, pleaded
guilty to perjury in December. She is cooperating with the government and is
expected to plead guilty to the single mail fraud count against her
contained in today's indictment, prosecutors said.
The document also named Julie Starsiak, 56, of Chicago, an officer at Ronan
Potts, and two former Jacobs executives, James Nagle, 41, of Glen Ellyn, and
Elizabeth Koski, 35, of Elmhurst. Starsiak, Nagle and Koski are each charged
with making false statements, or perjury.
Ronan Potts' co-owner, Alfred G. Ronan, a former Democratic state
representative from Chicago, was not charged. Fitzgerald said the
investigation was continuing.
Fawell allegedly also gave a $6,000 no-work contract to an associate,
Fitzgerald said, and spent $16,500 to sweep offices electronically to make
sure no recording devices were in use while the federal investigation
against him was under way.
Among other things, $2,800 was paid for a device that looked like a clock
but scanned office visitors for recording devices, Fitzgerald said.
The prosecutor said Fawell, Coutretsis and an unnamed associate also made
improper use of hotels, and that Fawell accepted "benefits" from McPier
vendors including a satellite dish, meals, lodging, golf vacations and
contributions to his legal defense fund.
The government also seeks at least $96,000 in forfeiture from Fawell and
Ronan Potts.
The indictment is sure to ratchet up the pressure on Fawell, who has refused
to cooperate with federal investigators. He is serving a 61⁄2-year prison
term for his 2003 conviction for misusing state resources for political
purposes.
Prosecutors said the defendants, if convicted, face five years in prison and
a $250,000 fine on each fraud and perjury count. They are to be arraigned at
a later date in U.S. District Court, Chicago.
Copyright © 2004, Chicago Tribune