Former Gov. George Ryan was sentenced to 6 ½ years in prison today following his historic conviction for steering lucrative state business to cronies in return for vacations, gifts and other benefits for himself and his family. "People of this state expected better, and I let them down," Ryan said in a statement delivered to the courtroom before the sentencing. Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 8 to 10 years. But defense attorneys argued before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer that even a sentence of up to 30 months could deprive Ryan, 72, of the last healthy...