Associated Press 

Witness: Campaign donors got low-digit plates 
 
By Mike Robinson 
Associated Press Writer 
Published October 11, 2005, 1:22 PM CDT 
 
 Campaign contributors were rewarded with low-digit license plates when George Ryan was secretary of state, his former right-hand man testified Tuesday. 
 
 Scott Fawell, who managed Ryan's successful campaign for governor in 1998, said the plates were reserved for donors and practically impossible for most people to get. 
 
 "What were the chances that John Q. Public could get on your list and get a low-digit plate?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick M. Collins asked him. 
 
 "Slim, I would say," Fawell, the government's leadoff witness, said as the former governor's corruption trial entered its third week. 
 
 Ryan, 71, is charged in a 22-count federal indictment with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to FBI agents. Also on trial is Ryan's friend Larry Warner, 67. 
 
 Among other things, prosecutors say Ryan steered big-money contracts in the secretary of state's office to Warner and other insiders while getting free vacations and assorted gifts. 
 
 Fawell, who was by Ryan's side for a decade and helped to engineer his rise in Illinois politics, was wrapping up his direct testimony on Tuesday. Defense attorneys were eager to begin their cross examination. 
 
 Licenses plates with three digits or fewer are highly prized by some drivers, and most of them are held by individuals with political clout. 
 
 Fawell said Ryan reserved for himself the final say-so on who got low-digit plates — several of which were issued to Warner. 
 
 As early as 1991, an old friend of Ryan's got a low-digit plate from Ryan as a reward for tapping a wealthy associate for a $75,000 campaign contribution, Fawell testified. 
 
 He said the $75,000 was urgently needed to buy last-minute television ads. 
 
 Fawell said he maintained a list of individuals who had requested low-digit plates and that getting such a plate would sometimes depend on "whether you were a friend of mine." 
 
 Then he would ask for information from the Citizens for Ryan campaign fund on whether the individual was "a lifetime contributor" to Ryan's election campaigns. 
 
 Fawell was convicted of racketeering in April 2003 and is serving a 61/2-year sentence in federal prison. He is also awaiting sentencing in a separate case after admitting that he took part in bid-rigging at the Chicago Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. 
 
 Prosecutors have offered to cut six months off his sentence if he cooperates with their prosecution of Ryan. Under the agreement, his fiancee who is also awaiting sentencing on bid-rigging and other charges, would also get a break in return for his cooperation. 
 
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