Prosecutor: Fawell 'behind the wheel' of George Ryan's political 'steamroller'

By MIKE RAMSEY
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE

CHICAGO - A federal prosecutor on Thursday summed up the government's side in the corruption trial of Scott Fawell and former Gov. George Ryan's campaign organization as jurors moved closer to deliberating.

Assistant U.S. attorney Joel Levin characterized Citizens for George Ryan, or CFR, as a ruthless political machine that robbed taxpayers.

"This CFR machine was almost like a steamroller that rolled on and on, and anything that got in its way it squashed, and rolled on some more," Levin said at the beginning of a 31/2-hour closing argument.

As for Fawell, he was "the man behind the wheel, the man who was steering," the prosecutor said.

Fawell, 45, was Ryan's top aide in the secretary of state's office for most of the 1991-99 period that the Kankakee Republican held the post. Fawell also managed Ryan's 1998 campaign for governor, but he allegedly got Ryan elected through the wide-scale diversion of secretary of state employees and its resources.

Fawell "bears full responsibility for this massive defrauding of the people of Illinois," Levin said.

The prosecutor said Fawell had similarly aided other GOP campaigns, fixed contracts for cronies, pocketed political fees he didn’t report to the IRS and pressured secretary of state employees to sell and buy fund-raiser tickets for Ryan. The sales reportedly netted $500,000 annually.

“(Fawell) might as well have hung up a ‘For Sale’ sign on those famous glass doors you’ve heard so much about,” Levin said, referring to Ryan’s executive offices at the James R. Thompson Center.

Jurors have sat through seven weeks of testimony in the trial, which is based on a nine-count indictment with charges ranging from racketeering, conspiracy to obstruct justice, mail fraud, theft and tax evasion.

In recapping the allegations Thursday, Levin also tried to counter theories that have been floated by defense attorneys, who are scheduled to offer their own arguments Monday.

The prosecutor dismissed suggestions that ambitious workers acted without Fawell’s consent. And he disagreed that Ryan employees gladly volunteered their spare time to work on campaigns.

Levin said low-level workers like Lori Armstrong of Riverton were coerced into buying fund-raiser tickets and “pressed into service” to do campaign work on evenings and weekends. Armstrong testified last month that she felt compelled to comply, even though she was a divorced mother with obligations to her daughter.

Earlier Thursday, federal prosecutor Patrick Collins sought to introduce additional evidence to jurors that he said would show defense witness James “Pate” Philip told three “bald-faced lies” on the stand Wednesday.

Philip, whose tenure as Illinois Senate president ended in January, was subpoenaed to testify by Fawell’s attorneys in hopes he would discredit government witness Larry Hall, an admitted bribe-taker. The former secretary of state employee and political operative implicated Fawell and Philip in illegal fund-raising schemes.

Philip denied he had ever traded his official influence for campaign donations, even after Collins confronted him with a transcript of a secretly taped conversation between him and Hall.

Collins dropped his request to give jurors the transcript when defense attorneys objected and threatened to delay Levin’s closing argument.

The government will get a chance to offer a rebuttal to the defense arguments next week, followed by the jury’s deliberations.

Ryan, who retired as governor in January, has not been charged in the case.

Mike Ramsey can be reached at (312) 857-2323 or cnsramsey@aol.com.