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TMCNet: Ryan's lawyers argue for ex-governor's release from prison

[September 09, 2010]

Ryan's lawyers argue for ex-governor's release from prison

CHICAGO, Sep 09, 2010 (Chicago Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- George Ryan's ailing wife, breathing with the aid of a portable oxygen tank, came to federal court Thursday as lawyers for the former Illinois governor make another push for his release from prison, this time citing the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to limit "honest services" fraud law.

Dan Webb, Ryan's lawyer, told reporters later that the former governor's release from federal prison is urgent because his wife, Lura Lynn, has only "one, two, three years to live." U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, who presided over Ryan's trial and sentenced him to 6{ years in prison, set a hearing for Nov. 1.

Ryan, 76, has served almost three years in prison and is scheduled to be released on the Fourth of July in 2013, U.S. Bureau of Prisons records show. He is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind.

Lura Lynn, looking frail, attended the routine court hearing a little more than a week after lawyers for her husband filed for his release. She has previously said she needs the oxygen 24 hour a day.

Asked after court about her desire to see her husband of more than 50 years, she replied, "I miss him greatly." Documents filed by Webb indicated Lura Lynn Ryan suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, as well as hypertension, high cholesterol levels, arterial sclerosis, low thyroid function, severe osteoporosis and other ailments _ "conditions that make treatment of the pulmonary fibrosis difficult," the defense said.

George Ryan has his own health ailments _ Crohns' disease, hypertension and heart disease, according to the defense filing.

Ryan's filing is his first direct assault on his conviction since his appeal was rejected in 2007, but he has made several other attempts to win his freedom since he entered prison in November 2007. The former governor's lawyers unsuccessfully sought clemency from President George W. Bush and made a similar request of President Barack Obama almost a year ago.

Lura Lynn Ryan previously acknowledged that while Bush was president, she made a personal plea to his mother, former first lady Barbara Bush. She also penned a short note to President Bush that then-U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood hand-delivered to a presidential aide.

In the latest bid for Ryan's release, his lawyers cited the Supreme Court's dismissal of former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling's conviction. The high court found the controversial law _ which is based on the public's intangible right to the honest services of officials _ unconstitutionally vague and determined that violations must include acts of bribery or kickbacks.

Webb told Pallmeyer that the finding should undo Ryan's racketeering and mail fraud convictions. He argued that Ryan has essentially served out his sentence on other counts on which he was convicted, including filing a false tax return.

After court, Webb told reporters that prosecutors at Ryan's trial had argued that the jury did not have to find that bribery had occurred or kickbacks had been paid to convict the former governor.

"George Ryan is now in prison serving time for something the U.S. Supreme Court has said is not a crime," he said.

Prosecutors said they don't believe the Supreme Court decision in the Skilling case applies to Ryan's conviction.

"In our view the case was all about bribes and kickbacks," Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurie Barsella told Pallmeyer.

(EDITORS: STORY CAN END HERE) The racketeering charge Ryan was convicted of also included allegation of money laundering and extortion, which would be untouched by the Skilling case, Barsella said.

Regardless, Webb told reporters that Ryan remains optimistic about returning to his Kankakee home to assist his sickly high school sweetheart.

"We've told him to hang in there, and he's a strong-willed person," Webb said. "He's got his hopes up, and he should have his hopes up." ___ (c) 2010, Chicago Tribune.

Visit the Chicago Tribune on the Internet at http://www.chicagotribune.com/.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

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