From the SJ-R: 
 
Fawell cross-examination starts 
Questions about fiancee upset former Ryan aide 
 
By MIKE RAMSEY 
 COPLEY NEWS SERVICE 
 
Published Wednesday, October 12, 2005 
 
 CHICAGO - Ex-Gov. George Ryan's lead defense attorney on Tuesday began cross-examining federal witness Scott Fawell, who testified he was not aware of his old boss ever taking a bribe for political favors while in office. 
 
"Not once, is that correct?" lawyer Dan Webb emphasized as Ryan's conspiracy trial entered its third week in U.S. District Court in Chicago. 
 
 "Correct," Fawell replied. 
 
 The 48-year-old prisoner was Ryan's top aide, campaign manager and friend when the Kankakee Republican was secretary of state during much of the 1990s. Convicted of racketeering in 2003 in connection with his work for Ryan, Fawell later agreed to help the government at the request of his indicted fiancee, Andrea Coutretsis, who faces jail time herself. 
 
 Webb has told jurors Fawell felt great pressure to cooperate, and the attorney asked the witness about his earlier statement that prosecutors have his "head in a vise." Coutretsis, a Fawell assistant who later developed a relationship with him, has pleaded guilty in two separate corruption cases and awaits sentencing. 
 
 "Our goal ... is to keep her out of prison and with her children," Fawell said. "As God is my witness, that's why I'm here." 
 
 He called his relationship with Coutretsis a "touchy subject." 
 
 Earlier Tuesday, as prosecutor Patrick Collins wrapped up the government's initial round of questioning, Fawell broke down on the stand after he recalled how his fiancee's visits to him at a federal work camp in Yankton, S.D., were temporarily suspended. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer called a brief recess to allow him to compose himself, and Fawell was led out by a federal marshal. 
 
 It was Fawell's fourth day of testimony. In his initial appearance Sept. 29, the onetime political operative appeared defiant and cocky, but he later toned down his manner after a meeting with his attorney. The silver-haired Ryan has stoically watched the testimony from his defendant's table. 
 
 Webb also played up Fawell's contention that, on the whole, neither he nor Ryan did anything egregious during Ryan's 1991-1999 tenure as secretary of state. Prosecutors say Ryan steered state contracts and leases to a select group of friends, including his co-defendant in the case, lobbyist Larry Warner, and received subtle kickbacks that included gifts, vacations and other benefits. Some criminal charges against Ryan stem from his 1999-2003 term as governor. 
 
 Fawell sent Ryan a Christmas card in December 2003, shortly after the retired politician was indicted. In it, the former right-hand man wrote, "You know in your heart, as I do, we have nothing to be ashamed of." The prisoner also complained the government was "wrong" to pursue Ryan but has "all the cards." 
 
 "And you learned that in spades?" Webb asked Fawell, who agreed. 
 
 Fawell told Collins, the prosecutor, that the Ryan administration was simply practicing "politics," but he admitted the process included his gutting an investigative unit that looked into employee misconduct and his helping manipulate state leases. Also Tuesday, Fawell outlined the process by which big campaign donors could get highly desirable, low-digit license plates from the secretary of state's office - a system he said Ryan ultimately controlled. 
 
 Still, Fawell stood by comments he made to the media early 2003 - upon his conviction - that he was not sitting on a "bomb," or incriminating information, that could harm Ryan. 
 
 "I think there are a lot of isolated incidents," Fawell said from the witness stand Tuesday. 
 
 Fawell was sentenced to 61/2 years and he hopes Pallmeyer will deduct six months from the sentence in return for his cooperation in the Ryan case. He also awaits sentencing in a bid-rigging indictment that stems from his time as Ryan's appointed head of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the so-called McPier agency that oversees McCormick Place and Navy Pier in Chicago. He said he hopes whatever sentence he gets runs concurrent with his Yankton penalty. 
 
 In explaining his relationship with Coutretsis, Fawell said he worked with the former Andrea Prokos beginning in the early 1990s in the secretary of state's office. He said they did not develop a romantic relationship until 2000, when they were at McPier. She approached him about helping the government after her attorney said it could benefit her, Fawell said. 
 
 Webb handled Fawell in a non-confrontational way, and even appeared to be sympathetic when the prisoner said he thinks some government witnesses lied at his 2003 trial. Webb said he was trying to elicit Fawell's mindset, but Collins later complained to Pallmeyer the defense lawyer was "bordering close to testifying as well." Another prosecutor, Zachary Fardon, asked Pallmeyer to discourage jurors from thinking Fawell's allegations have any weight. 
 
 Fawell continues testifying today.