From the Daily Herald:

Is Ryan the feds' next target?
By Eric Krol Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted March 20, 2003

The conviction of George Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott Fawell, leaves just one major target for federal investigators probing corruption in the secretary of state's office: Ryan himself.

Though U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald refused to say Wednesday whether the former governor is in their sights, prosecutors repeatedly brought up Ryan's name during the trial and made it clear their Operation Safe Road investigation is far from over.

"We will continue to take this investigation to its logical end," Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Collins told Fawell jurors, answering defense contentions the case would be forgotten in a few weeks. Another prosecutor called Ryan a "leader" of his campaign fund, which the jury also found to be corrupt.

Former federal prosecutors and political observers believe it's a foregone conclusion charges will be brought against Ryan, who was so close to Fawell that their relationship has been described as father-son.

"Kind of gratuitously, he (Ryan) has been thrown into the Fawell trial. There was no reason to put that in unless they're pointing to George Ryan," said Terrence Norton, a former federal prosecutor and executive director of the Better Government Association.

"The next step logically would be the former governor," said state Sen. Wendell Jones, a Palatine Republican.

But based on testimony at the Fawell trial and what authorities have made public so far, it appears prosecutors would have a tougher time proving a racketeering charge against Ryan than they did against Fawell.

If no other evidence against Ryan comes out, less serious charges like tax evasion or obstruction of justice could be the route prosecutors take - if they take any at all, courthouse observers said.

The attorney for Ryan's campaign fund dismissed the notion prosecutors have any case against Ryan.

"It would be a long, long reach to implicate Gov. Ryan based on the evidence we heard," said Thomas Breen, attorney for the Citizens for Ryan campaign fund.

To prove a racketeering charge, prosecutors need to get a jury to accept their theory of corruption, then prove at least two actions taken in connection with it. Prosecutors would have little room for error in persuading a judge or jury because Ryan's name has come up, so far, in only three such potential circumstances:

• Prosecutors alleged in court documents last December that Ryan and Fawell took kickbacks on Jamaican vacations from South suburban developer Harry Klein in return for a sweetheart office lease deal.

Ryan paid Klein by check for the vacations, then insisted on getting a cash refund at the end of the trip, prosecutors said. Barring a potential analysis of bank records, it could be Klein's word vs. Ryan's to prove a bribery or tax evasion charge.

• Former Ryan scheduler William Mack testified that he told Ryan over the phone the secretary of state's office had been "cleaned up" of any campaign documents federal prosecutors had subpoenaed.

The legal question, however, would be whether Ryan had to take steps to encourage the shredding or whether the fact that he knew it was being done for his benefit is enough to bring a corruption charge. Breen argued the latter wouldn't be sufficient.

• Former Fawell aide Richard Juliano testified that Ryan diverted $10,000 in consulting fees from the 1996 Phil Gramm presidential campaign to four of his daughters. Prosecutors said Ryan and his aides were profiting from the Gramm contract, but were having state employees do the Gramm work on the taxpayers' dime. Prosecutors ultimately did not move forward with a mail fraud charge against Fawell based on that testimony, however, so it's unclear whether they would do so against Ryan.

There are at least two remaining wild cards for Ryan. One is Fawell, who preserved his ability to cut a post-conviction, pre-sentence deal to provide information on Ryan to prosecutors because he did not testify at his own trial. Ryan remained loyal to Fawell, however, cutting a deal with prosecutors to pay out of his campaign fund the entire $750,000 restitution bill Fawell and the fund faced.

The other wild card won't be seen until September, when Ryan confidant Larry Warner is scheduled to stand trial for paying off an unidentified, high-ranking secretary of state "official A" as part of a kickback scheme. Ryan has said he "doesn't think" he's the "official A" noted in Fawell's indictments.

Whatever the case, Norton said, prosecutors likely will be buoyed by the Fawell conviction.

"The jury bought the argument (against Fawell), so prosecutors need only connect (Ryan) to the criminal enterprise," Norton said.

• Daily Herald State Government Editor John Patterson contributed to this report.