posted
For corruption. He'll appeal, but it looks like he's actually going to go to jail!
I interviewed him many years ago when he was Secretary of State about their Driver Licensing programs.
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posted
Like many people in Illinois (not sure what the polls say), I think the sentence is way too light. And if the judge lets him stay out of jail pending appeals, he may never see the inside of a jail.
Oddly enough, the main person we have to thank for this is ex-Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a conservative Republican who had a low tolerance for corruption. He pushed for the appointment of an aggressive and independent federal prosecutor for this state. The Republican party made him an outcast here - throwing away a viable candidate for the Senate seat now held by Barack Obama.
These same prosecutors, btw, are busy investigating and levying formal charges of corruption againt officials in the *Democratic* administration of Richard Daley in the City of Chicago.
I like prosecutors who don't play favorites.
Here, btw, is a link to a columnist very far away from me politically (about as far from me as Peter Fitzgerald), but who is evenhanded in the way he feels about corruption:
quote:The people of Illinois, Ryan said, "expected better and I let them down and for that I apologize. My failures will never leave my mind as long as I live. ... I should have been more vigilant."
He meant he should have been more careful. But there was no apology to the Willis family, sitting nearby, for his order to cut off the investigation of the license-for-bribes scheme that helped lead to the crash that killed their six children.
For that alone, he should have received 10 years, the sentence that was requested by the federal prosecutors.
posted
I'm in Chicago now, and I think that his sentence was too heavy. As guilty as he is, this whole town stinks of bloated patronage.
I don't know if the laws regarding this issue are ambiguously written or merely selectively enforced, but I feel bad for the former governor because I think he is being used as a sacrificial lamb or patsy or maybe some other term. "Steam control" is the only apt phrase that comes to my mind.
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quote:I'm in Chicago now, and I think that his sentence was too heavy. As guilty as he is, this whole town stinks of bloated patronage.
I don't know if the laws regarding this issue are ambiguously written or merely selectively enforced, but I feel bad for the former governor because I think he is being used as a sacrificial lamb or patsy or maybe some other term. "Steam control" is the only apt phrase that comes to my mind.
Irami,
I've lived in the Chicago area for the last ten years and I've watched this play out over time. This was no "selective enforcement," but an actual attempt by an aggressive U.S. Attorney team at enforcement of the laws here.
quote:Soon after becoming U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois, Fitzgerald began an investigation of political appointees of Illinois Governor George Ryan (Republican), who were suspected of accepting bribes to give licenses to unqualified truck drivers. Fitzgerald soon expanded this investigation, uncovering a network of political bribery and gift-giving, and leading to more than 60 indictments. Ryan, who did not seek re-election in 2002, was indicted in December 2003. At the conclusion of the trial, in April 2006, Ryan was found guilty on all eighteen counts against him. Ryan's co-defendant, Chicago businessman Larry Warner, 67, was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, attempted extortion, and money laundering.
***
On July 18, 2005, Fitzgerald's office indicted a number of top aides to Democrat Richard M. Daley, the mayor of Chicago, on charges of mail fraud, alleging numerous instances of corruption in hiring practices at City Hall. Fitzgerald is also investigating the administration of current Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. An investigation announced on December 30 2005 will review contracts between the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and vendors who signed leases to occupy the recently remodeled Illinois Tollway oases. Fitzgerald's office is investigating possible conflicts of interest between these vendors and one of Blagojevich's top fundraisers, Antoin Rezko.[5] [6]
In March 2006, former Chicago City Clerk James Laski pled guilty to pocketing nearly $50,000 in bribes for steering city business to two trucking companies. Thus far Laski is the highest-ranking Chicago official and Daley administration employee brought down by Fitzgerald's office in conjunction with the Hired Truck Program scandal.
As near as I can figure, Illinois politics has been this way for a long time. The latter investigations summarized above are ongoing. I think that the public doesn't have the same degree of tolerance it used to have for the patronage and corruption. Not because of any new moral awakening - it's just that times are tougher and when times are tough, public servants enriching themselves and their friends aren't as likely to be tolerated. In either party.
Posts: 4344 | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
In case anyone is interested, Chicago Tribune Columnist John Kass has the letters submitted to the judge by the Willis family (six children killed in an accident caused by a truck driver with an illegally-obtained license):
quote: But there is a time to speak. I am sharing these facts only because I believe if justice rules, wrongdoing will be deterred. I have learned "when [God's] judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness. Though grace is shown to the wicked, they do not learn righteousness; even in a land of uprightness they go on doing evil." (Isaiah 26:9, 10)
That Election Day, in 1994, I was unaware that in 1993, dishonest and unsafe procedures in driver's licensing facilities had been reported. I was unaware that in spite of some investigations into those activities, Mr. Ryan had allowed illegalities to continue. I was unaware that Mr. Ryan had his sight on the governor's seat and was using these activities to build his campaign funds.
Incredibly, even after our accident, he permitted the fundraising scheme to continue. But I was fully aware of these things when Mr. Ryan ran for governor and won. It was extremely hard at that point not knowing whether justice would be served.
You know what? She still doesn't really know if any kind of justice will be served.
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I've told people before that as a Chicagoan, I live in the only hereditary monarchy in North America.
Posts: 26 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Mr. Ryan was one of the most powerful people in Illinois. He was given the public trust over decades. In his role as Secretary of State, he put personal gain ahead of safety and cost the taxpayers of the state huge sums of money. I don't know what the ultimate bill for liability in the cases where people were harmed by illegally licensed drivers -- could be $0. But Illinois had to review every single license issued to truckers over a certain number of years. I don't recall exactly what they did ultimately, but I recall something about a lot of retesting. It costs money! LOTS of money!
And there were people killed.
I'm not going to comment on George Ryan's sentence, but I don't think he's being scapegoated. He was the central and top-most figure in some horrendous abuses.
Whether others do the same, and whether this sort of thing is a tradition within Illinois politics is immaterial. THIS guy got caught and was successfully prosecuted. I have zero sympathy for him.
It may be that I take the integrity of the driver licensing system more seriously than the general population, but I know what happens when unskilled (or insufficiently skilled) people drive. If anything, I want it MORE difficult to obtain a driver's license. But personal considerations aside, I cannot excuse or tolerate the kind of operation Ryan let happen during his tenure as SoS for Illinois.
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