Former Illinois governor convicted of racketeering, fraud

AP WIRE | MIKE ROBINSON

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

Vaya con Dios, a##h###.

[goodnesswins]

Clinton's next???? /sarcasm

[jaydubya2]

The charges against former Gov. George Ryan and lobbyist Lawrence Warner, in a 22-count indictment. Ryan was found guilty on all 18 counts against him. Warner was found guilty on all 12 counts against him:


Count 1, racketeering conspiracy: Ryan and Warner guilty.

Ryan and Warner conspired to defraud the people of Illinois by using Ryan's elected offices for personal gain. Ryan defrauded the state of honest services by funneling lobbying contracts and state leases to Warner and others, using and promoting state employees for political work and gutting the Secretary of State's internal investigation unit.


Counts 2 to 10, mail fraud:

Count 2: Both guilty

Count 3: Both guilty

Count 4:Both guilty

Count 5: Both guilty

Count 6: Both guilty

Count 7: Both guilty

Count 8: Both guilty

Count 9: Ryan guilty

Count 10: Ryan guilty

As part of the conspiracy, Warner and others, including lobbyists Donald Udstuen and Arthur "Ron" Swanson, used the mail to send and receive corrupt payments that benefited themselves and Ryan.


Counts 11 to 13, making false statements to the FBI:

Count 11: Ryan guilty

Count 12: Ryan guilty

Count 13: Ryan guilty

In three interviews with the FBI, Ryan lied to investigators. On Jan. 5, 2000, he said he paid for vacations at the Jamaican villa of businessman Harry Klein, when he knew Klein reimbursed him in cash. On Oct. 16, 2000, he said he never gave Warner advance knowledge about a state lease. On Feb. 5, 2001, he said he did not provide dinner theater owner Anthony De Santis with the names and addresses of family members to skirt campaign donation reporting rules.


Count 14, attempted extortion: Warner guilty.
Warner attempted to extort payments from Chicago-based American Decal Manufacturing, the firm that produced state license plate stickers. Warner, who made some $332,000 from ADM while Ryan was secretary of state, threatened to use his influence with Ryan to end the firm's monopoly on the contract.


Counts 15 and 16, money laundering:

Count 15: Warner guilty

Count 16: Warner guilty

Warner laundered some $45,000 in Ryan-ordered payments to Udstuen through American Management Resources, a firm owned by an Udstuen friend.


Count 17, structuring: Warner guilty.

Warner routinely withdrew cash in amounts under $10,000 to prevent triggering an automatic report to the Internal Revenue Service. As part of that pattern, he cashed personal checks for $9,000 and $5,000 on Aug. 4 and 5, 1997.

Count 18, impeding the IRS: Ryan guilty.

Ryan diverted money from his political fund, Citizens for Ryan, to himself and family members but failed to correctly report the funds to the IRS.


Counts 19 to 22, filing false tax returns:

Count 19: Ryan guilty

Count 20: Ryan guilty

Count 21: Ryan guilty

Count 22: Ryan guilty

Ryan knowingly filed false amended tax returns for 1995-1998.

[TheRightGuy]

Good catch Brian!

CHICAGOLAND PING

[bkepley]

Politically, Illinois is the pits.

[mystery-ak]

Oh, happy days!!!!!!

[Fury]

My guess is that he will go to jail for quite a spell - I doubt this will be a slap on the wrist...

[D-Chivas]

Ryan should be dragged down the street with a chain around his neck.

[mikeus_maximus]

"At a news conference after the verdict, Ryan said he will appeal. "The decision today is not in accordance with the kind of public service I've given to the people of Illinois over 40 years," he said."

Translation: "I should get a pass becasue of who I am.

There's nothing quite so satisfying as seeing arrogance humbled.

[Petruchio]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1616485/posts

[Toddsterpatriot]

Great news!!

Maybe your cell mate will be a murderer who you saved from execution?

[pepperhead]

I wonder if he will receive a hero's welcome when he gets there.

[concerned about politics]

The 72-year-old Republican

If he were a democrat, the AP would have left the 'democrat' part out of the story. When someone is a Republican, that becomes the most important part of the whole article!

[stylin19a]

Off to the memorial Otto Kerner cell.

[Wolfstar]

The whole thing sounds like politics as usual to me. This sort of thing happens at every level of government, from town council on up to Congress. You get elected. You reward your friends and contributors. They reward you in return. That's the system -- and it was ever thus.

When we see indictments and trials for the likes of Ted Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Patrick Leahy, Maxine Waters, Nancy Pelosi, etc., then I might be impressed.

[bcsco]

"At a news conference after the verdict, Ryan said he will appeal..."

An appeal could get interesting. Two jurors were forced to resign when it was discovered they'd lied on their juror's questionnaire. Another situation recently came to light when someone who knows a juror (as a client of their establishment) called a Chicago radio talk show and claimed the juror made remarks to him about the trial. While the remarks, both by the juror and phone caller, were innocuous, the judge last week sent the jurors home while holding a closed-door meeting with the prosecution/defense attorneys.

Whether any of this is brought up during appeal remains to be seen. I doubt it would be significant.

[zbigreddogz]

Bye bye!

You won't be missed.

[JustPiper]

Chicago is even worse, can't get rid of Daley but we can get rid of Blago!

[<1/1,000,000th%]

My guess is that he will go to jail for quite a spell - I doubt this will be a slap on the wrist...

If proceedings continue at the pace the prosecution moved, the appeals will still be in court when Ryan dies of old age.