From the Daily Herald: 
 
Former top aide key in Ryan trial 
 
By Eric Krol 
Daily Herald Political Writer 
Posted Tuesday, September 20, 2005 
 
In a corruption trial expected to be filled with dramatic scenes, few will pack more emotional wallop than when former Gov. George Ryan watches former top aide Scott Fawell testify against him. 
 
There also may be few more important witnesses for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in his case against Ryan, who sat in court Monday as attorneys began the lengthy process of picking a jury to hear evidence in the 22-count indictment against Ryan and co-defendant Lawrence E. Warner. 
 
The perhaps weeks-long testimony of Fawell, once as close as a son to Ryan politically, is pivotal because he can say what Ryan knew and when he knew it — the precise part of the mystery federal prosecutors have been trying to unravel for seven years of their Operation Safe Road probe. 
 
“It is hard to underestimate the benefit to the government … of how Mr. Fawell’s truthful information will help complete the picture of this very important investigation,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins, who will prosecute the case, said in court nearly a year ago. 
 
Whether the jury believes Fawell, given his previous vow never to testify against Ryan and subsequent flip-flop when prosecutors put heat on his fiancee, is important for Ryan’s defense. 
 Associated Press 
 Former Gov. George Ryan leaves the Dirksen Federal Building Monday after the first day of jury selection began in his racketeering trial. 
“I’m still not overly comfortable with participating,” Fawell told a federal judge last Oct. 28 during a teary testimonial to try to keep his mistress-turned-fiancee, Andrea Coutretsis, out of prison. “I don’t relish testifying against George Ryan.” 
 
Fawell, 48, was once the heir to DuPage County political royalty. His mother is Beverly Fawell, a former state legislator. His father is Bruce Fawell, a former chief judge in the county. And his uncle, Harris Fawell, was a respected congressman from Naperville. 
 
Scott Fawell rose through the GOP political ranks rapidly, serving as a driver for then-U.S. Sen. Charles Percy, lobbyist for the tollway authority and campaign operative for then-Gov. Jim Thompson. He ended up working for then-Lt. Gov. Ryan, and helped Ryan win a close race in 1990 for secretary of state. 
 
Ryan rewarded him with the chief of staff job and then the nearly $200,000-a-year plum of running the agency that oversees McCormick Place and Navy Pier. 
 
So if Ryan indeed has figurative bodies buried somewhere, as prosecutors allege, Fawell is in position to know the location. He gave prosecutors a 45-page sworn statement. 
 
Fawell talked about special secretary of state office leases prosecutors say Ryan illegally steered to co-defendant Warner. He also took yearly vacations to Jamaica with Ryan, trips a businessman who got an office lease would reimburse the duo for, according to prosecutors. 
 
Among other things, Fawell also supposedly knows about alleged selling of low-digit license plates for campaign contributions. He helped set up a scheme in which secretary of state workers would do campaign work on state time, prosecutors say. And when it came time to cover up the illegal political activity, prosecutors likely will try to prove Fawell told Ryan about massive document-shredding that was going on. 
 
A jury found Fawell guilty for his part in the corruption scandal. He’s serving a 6¨-year sentence at a federal work camp in Yankton, S.D. 
 
Fawell, however, gave his testimony to prosecutors reluctantly, a fact that Ryan’s defense team undoubtedly will bring to jurors’ attention. 
 
“I’m not going to sell myself out just to save myself,” Fawell said after his sentencing in late June 2003. “I’m not sitting on any bomb of George Ryan’s. I’m not going to go in there and make up stories about him just to save myself, which unfortunately that’s the game (prosecutors) like you to play.” 
 
That, however, was before Fitzgerald’s office charged Coutretsis, formerly of Long Grove. Coutretsis, a mother of two and Fawell’s one-time assistant at McPier, faced a prison sentence for perjury before persuading Fawell to turn on Ryan. In return, she could get six months or probation. Fawell could get six months shaved off his sentence. 
 
Given that change of heart, one former federal prosecutor said it’s important for prosecutors not to rely too heavily on Fawell as a witness, or to be able to corroborate his testimony. 
 
“A lot of what Fawell will testify to is stuff that wasn’t written down or involves a he-said, she-said scenario,” said Ricardo Meza, a former assistant U.S. attorney from Arlington Heights now in private practice at Utreras Law Offices in Chicago. 
 
Beyond his incentive to cooperate, Ryan’s attorneys also likely will try to paint Fawell as the person truly responsible for the corruption, a renegade lawbreaker who really ran the show without Ryan’s knowledge. Fawell, after all, kept an infamously detailed “favors list” with the names of movers and shakers who asked the secretary of state’s office for help. 
 
Fawell’s demeanor on the stand could go a long way toward how jurors view him — at times during his trial, he had a hard time suppressing what some pundits have called a “bad-boy smile.” During others, such as the time he agreed to cooperate to save Coutretsis, Fawell broke down in tears. 
 
“If his smugness comes off after the first couple of questions on direct exam, prosecutors will have a tougher time,” Meza said. “The question is whether Fawell will try out the tears against the governor or not.” 
 
Fawell, who is in prison, could not be reached for comment. His attorney declined to comment.