From the Tribune:

U.S. prosecutor who led Ryan probe leaving

By Matt O'Connor
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 1, 2007, 1:02 PM CST

The federal prosecutor who led the government's investigation and trial case that resulted in the downfall of ex-Gov. George Ryan announced today he is leaving the U.S. attorney's office in Chicago.

Patrick Collins, a 12-year veteran of the office, said he would join the law firm of Perkins Coie in its Chicago office by early April.

Collins led the Operation Safe Road probe that exposed wholesale bribery in Illinois secretary of state driver's license facilities and mushroomed into a probe of corruption of Ryan and numerous close aides.

Following a historic six-month trial last year, Ryan and co-defendant Lawrence Warner were convicted on racketeering and fraud charges, bringing to 75 the number of convictions in the investigation.

Collins also took a lead role in the ongoing probe of the city's Hired Truck Program that expanded into an investigation of the patronage system in Mayor Richard Daley's administration. So far, that probe has snared 42 convictions, including that of Robert Sorich, Daley's former patronage chief.