From the Tribune:

GEORGE RYAN ON TRIAL

Lobbyist's ex-girlfriend tells of gifts
Swanson allegedly hosted 1st family at Mexican condo

By Matt O'Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 11, 2006

A former longtime girlfriend to lobbyist Arthur "Ron" Swanson, a close friend of former Gov. George Ryan, testified Tuesday that she and Swanson played host to Ryan and his wife at Swanson's condo in a Mexican resort for a week in 1995.

Sandra McAvoy said that the couples vacationed in Lake Tahoe as well and that Swanson said he bought gifts for Ryan, such as a Lladro ceramic figurine for a wedding anniversary and a golf bag.

On cross-examination, McAvoy conceded she didn't know if Swanson paid for the Ryans' expenses on the vacations or whether in fact Swanson gave the gifts to Ryan.

The former governor is on trial on charges he accepted gifts, vacations and cash for himself and relatives from Swanson and other friends in return for steering them millions of dollars in state business.

The defense contends Swanson was simply doing favors for a close friend.

Prosecutors also presented circumstantial evidence Tuesday suggesting Swanson may have passed cash to Ryan in February 2002.

Ken DeLay, a former employee at Swanson's Springfield lobbying firm, said he was dispatched to withdraw $3,000 in cash from a bank on Feb. 21, 2002, only one of three or four times he did that in working nearly three years for Swanson.

Bank records show the withdrawal was made at 10:38 a.m.

Swanson's calendar for that date showed he had a scheduled meeting with Ryan at the Capitol at 12:45 p.m., DeLay said.

But DeLay acknowledged he had no idea if Swanson met with Ryan that day.

Under questioning by Bradley Lerman, one of Ryan's attorneys, DeLay also said Swanson had a scheduled trip to Chicago for a meeting the next day and liked to travel with a large amount of cash.

McAvoy, who was romantically involved with the married Swanson from 1986 until early 2000, testified the Ryans stayed with them at Swanson's time-share condo in Cancun, Mexico, in January 1995.

The two-bedroom condo overlooked the ocean, she said, and meals at restaurants on the property could be put on Swanson's tab.

McAvoy testified that Swanson paid for her expenses, but she didn't have personal knowledge as to whether he also picked up the tab for the Ryans.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Joel Levin asked if she had seen Ryan pay for anything on the vacation.

"No, I did not," she said.

McAvoy said the couples also vacationed in 1995 at a condo in Lake Tahoe, gambling in casinos for entertainment.

They also traveled to New York in 1998 to attend a fundraiser for Ryan's gubernatorial campaign during a baseball game at Yankee Stadium.

Levin showed jurors a photo of the two couples with Yankee owner George Steinbrenner.

McAvoy said she and Swanson socialized with the Ryans at a Bulls game, a Cirque du Soleil performance, met singer Wayne Newton at the Governor's Mansion and attended a charity ball at Navy Pier.

McAvoy said Swanson purchased the Lladro ceramic figurine in Cancun and said he had it delivered to Ryan. He also told her he had bought golf bags in 1998 for Ryan and the state's other constitutional officers, she said.

Julie Bauer, another Ryan attorney, asked McAvoy if that meant Swanson gave another golf bag to then-Gov. Jim Edgar.

"That would seem logical," she said.

But she acknowledged she didn't know if Swanson in fact gave the gifts to Ryan or the others.

On cross-examination by Bauer, McAvoy said Swanson carried as much as $5,000 cash on him and liked to be seen as a major player in Springfield.

According to testimony Tuesday, Swanson's lobbying firm closed at the end of 2002 after he suffered a physical and mental collapse. In 2004 he pleaded guilty at age 77 to lying in grand jury appearances in connection with the federal investigation.

McAvoy admitted that Swanson padded insurance claims stemming from a fire at one of his residences and that she signed papers falsely claiming he had paid her rent while repairs were made to his home.