Fawell case goes to jury

By MIKE RAMSEY
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

CHICAGO - Jurors on Tuesday afternoon began deliberations in the Scott Fawell corruption trial after a federal prosecutor told them the investigation central to the case won't end with Fawell.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins stopped short of naming former Gov. George Ryan, the only person higher than Fawell in the scandal-plagued secretary of state's office for much of the 1990s.

"We will continue to take this investigation to its logical end," Collins said during a rebuttal to the defense's closing arguments.

He declined to elaborate outside the courtroom.

The prosecutor's remarks were in response to Fawell defense attorney Ed Genson, who earlier this week suggested to jurors that their verdict may soon fade from memory. Collins angrily countered that the case is broader than Fawell and is "important to the United States and its system of justice."

Much of his hourlong presentation to jurors, however, centered on Fawell's control of both Ryan's public office and his campaign organization, Citizens for George Ryan (CFR), a co-defendant in the racketeering trial. Fawell allegedly diverted state personnel and resources to elect Ryan and other Republicans beginning in the early 1990s through Ryan's 1998 election as governor.

Even though he had access to considerable campaign funds, Fawell was motivated by "good old-fashioned greed" in robbing taxpayers, Collins said.

"Jesse James said he robbed banks because that's where the money is," the prosecutor said. "Mr. Fawell stole from the secretary of state's office because he could."

Genson on Monday characterized Fawell as a "fall guy" for overzealous or crooked underlings who cut deals with prosecutors to get lenient treatment. Among the cooperating witnesses was onetime secretary of state employee Larry Hall, an admitted bribe-taker and contract-fixer who implicated Fawell.

Hall has been a government informant for years and pleaded guilty to mail fraud in a separate case; he received probation. Collins said jurors should weigh Hall's testimony carefully but not discount it altogether.

"Ladies and gentlemen, a play cast in hell does not have angels as its actors," he said.

Earlier Tuesday, CFR defense attorney Thomas Breen said in his closing argument that campaign workers made mistakes but were acting in "good faith." He has said politics and government have been intertwined for generations, but that good policies can result.

"Hindsight is wonderful, but the point is, when each and every act was being committed in the '90s, there was no intent to defraud anyone," Breen said.

Jurors began deliberations at 2:45 p.m. on the 21st floor of the Dirksen Federal Building, where Fawell's trial began eight weeks ago. Presiding Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer released four alternate jurors but directed them not to discuss the case or seek news about it because one or more could be called in as replacements.

The jurors recessed for the evening two hours later and were to resume deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

Information wasn't immediately available about the jury's schedule for the rest of the week - during the trial, members worked from about 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Fridays off - but the panel was expected to take awhile to reach its verdicts.

The government's nine-count indictment, based on the premise of a racketeering conspiracy, also accuses Fawell of obstructing justice, mail fraud, theft, perjury and filing false tax returns.

Jurors have the testimony of more than 40 witnesses to consider, plus scores of documents submitted as evidence.

Ryan, who retired as governor in January, did not seek re-election because of scandals emanating from his previous state office. Although the feds have called him a "co-schemer" in some of Fawell's activities, Ryan himself has not been charged and denies wrongdoing.

Mike Ramsey can be _reached at (312) 857-2323 or cnsramsey@aol.com. The Associated Press contributed _to this report.