From the Daily Herald:

How verdict affects Fawells
By Stacy St. Clair Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted March 20, 2003

Once the staple of any DuPage County Republican gathering, former state Sen. Beverly Fawell has been absent from the GOP social scene for the past 11 months.

Her absence - which coincided with her son Scott's indictment and subsequent corruption trial - is reflective of how devastating, and isolating, the scandal has been for the famed Fawell family.

His conviction Wednesday on all counts threatens to tarnish the legacy of a proud clan that can trace its lineage back to the earliest DuPage settlers. During the past three generations, the Fawells have boasted a strong record of public service in DuPage County, including a U.S. congressman, a state legislator, a county board member, two judges and a local mayor.

Their good deeds, however, could be forever overshadowed by the guilty verdict handed down on the seventh day of jury deliberations in Scott Fawell's case, political watchers said.

"It obviously is going to hurt them," said Paul Green, a political science professor at Roosevelt University in Chicago. "It's a sad situation for them, I'm sure."

The eight-week trial exposed widespread corruption and patronage in the secretary of state's office during former Gov. George Ryan's tenure. The Illinois GOP will grapple with the fallout for years to come, but DuPage's most influential Republican leaders say they are not prepared to ostracize the entire Fawell family for Scott Fawell's sins.

"There are many, many Fawells who have been fine public servants," DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom said. "I am sure they will be judged by what they did for the community."

The family's legacy includes the patriarch, Walter Fawell, who served as mayor of West Chicago. But the clan's most successful and prominent politician is former U.S. Rep. Harris Fawell of Naperville. During his 14 years in Congress, he was often mocked for his squeaky-clean image and his serious demeanor.

He refused quid-pro-quo deals and was a vocal critic of pork-barrel spending, which is money Congress members earmark for occasionally frivolous and other favorite projects in their home districts.

Harris Fawell declined to comment on the guilty verdict Wednesday when reached at his Naperville home.

Beverly Fawell also earned the respect of fellow politicians while serving in the state senate. She had a reputation for dedicated, if not overly tenacious, constituent service. She wasn't afraid to call U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde of Wood Dale - one of the country's most influential congressman - and ask him to settle a homeowners association dispute if she thought he could help.

"She used to drive us crazy," Hyde aide Pat Durante said. "But you had to love her for it. She did whatever she had to do to help her constituents."

In the end, Durante said, DuPage County residents will remember these contributions more than Scott Fawell's crimes.

"As far as the Fawells go," Durante said, "the records of Beverly and Harris speak for themselves. The family has a distinguished record of public service."

But if Beverly Fawell has spent much time worrying about her legacy in the past year, she hasn't shown it. She has accompanied her son to the federal courthouse, offering a thin smile as cameras snap their photographs as they enter the building.

She has declined to comment on her son's case since his indictment nine months ago. She again refused to speak on the issue Wednesday. Others, such as former state Rep. Mary Lou Cowlishaw, who for years worked alongside Beverly Fawell, said the family's stellar reputation for public service should not be tainted by the recent scandal.

"Truly, this is an honorable and very admirable woman," Cowlishaw said. "It just grieves me more than I can express to think how this will affect her.

"Maybe I am naive, but I really don't believe people will be so unfair or petty as to hold Bev and Harris responsible for something they had no control over. Whatever Scott did, he did when he was an adult."

An unabashed party loyalist, Beverly Fawell resigned from the state Senate to raise her grandchildren after their father Steven Fawell's death in 1999.

The 72-year-old Glen Ellyn resident remained active in area politics after her retirement, winning a spot on the College of DuPage board of trustees two years ago and having been elected Milton Township GOP committeewoman in 2002.

She was linked to her son's criminal activity during the trial, when prosecutors suggested Scott Fawell misused state employees in a 1994 state senate primary. Beverly Fawell was in jeopardy of losing her seat to former DuPage County Board member Michael Formento, and prosecutors allege Scott Fawell ordered state workers to assist his mother.

"We have to save Bev!" witnesses quoted him as saying.

Beverly Fawell has not been charged with wrongdoing. And DuPage GOP insiders won't turn their back on her, said Durante, who has been Addison Township Republican Party chairman for the past 30 years.

"Heck, yeah. We'll stand by her," Durante said. "If Beverly called me for help, I'd pick up the phone and talk to her."

Scott Fawell, who grew up in West Chicago and once lived in St. Charles, has not been deeply involved in DuPage-area politics other than his mother's campaigns. He went to work at the state level after graduating from North Central College in Naperville and never looked back.

DuPage GOP insiders looked to him for vanity license plates and patronage jobs in the secretary of state's office, though few counted themselves among his close friends.

They considered Fawell, 45, cocky and arrogant - even by his own family's standards.

His father and three uncles were nicknamed the "Fighting Fawells" for their fiery tempers on and off the semi-professional baseball diamond. Scott Fawell is said to have inherited much of their bravado.

Scott Fawell's conviction is not the family's first black eye - though it's definitely the biggest. His uncle, Michael Fawell, pleaded guilty in 1986 to taking $17,000 from estates while he was DuPage County public guardian. He also was convicted of mail fraud stemming from a 1983 bankruptcy claim.

He was disbarred and later blamed his actions on a past drinking problem.

His brothers, Bruce and Harris, helped pay off his debts.

Bruce Fawell, Scott's father and the eldest of the brothers and a former DuPage County chief judge, had his own problem while in public office. He resigned from the bench in 1989 shortly after receiving a public reprimand for performing weddings outside the courthouse and pocketing the money.

A decade before his resignation, he stunned family members and close political allies when he divorced Beverly to marry a woman 24 years his junior.

The new generation of Fawell politicians - with the exception of Scott Fawell - has been decidedly less controversial.

Harris Fawell's son-in-law, Robert Heap of Naperville, is a respected member of the DuPage County Board. Scott Fawell's sister-in-law, Blanche Fawell, is an up-and-coming associate judge.

Her husband and Scott Fawell's brother, Jeff Fawell, is Milton Township GOP chairman and a prominent local attorney. He has not expressed interest in any major political posts, but his brother's sins should not harm any future aspirations, Durante said.

"He has his own record and his own accomplishments," Durante said. "If he wants an office, he'll be judged on Jeff Fawell's record and nobody else's. I'd consider him as highly as I'd consider anybody."