[H1]Jury Finds Former Ill. Gov. Ryan Guilty[/H1] [H2][/H2] [DIV id=byline][FONT size=2]By MIKE ROBINSON[/FONT][/DIV][FONT size=2]The Associated Press
Monday, April 17, 2006; 1:40 PM [/FONT] [DIV id=article_body] CHICAGO -- Former Gov. George Ryan, who drew international praise when he commuted the sentences of everyone on Illinois' death row, was convicted of racketeering and fraud Monday in a corruption scandal that ended his political career.
Ryan, 72, faces up to 20 years in prison for racketeering conspiracy, the most serious of the charges in the 22-count indictment.
The jury found him guilty on all charges.
Ryan was accused of steering big-money state contracts and leases, including a $25 million IBM computer deal, to his friends and political insiders.
In return, Ryan was rewarded with annual winter vacations in Jamaica, stays in Cancun and Palm Springs and gifts ranging from a golf bag to $145,000 in loans to his brother's business, prosecutors said.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer summoned attorneys to her courtroom Monday for the verdict to be read.
The jury's decision ends the state's biggest political corruption trial in decades, and draws a conclusion on the long career of a politician who gained international fame as a death penalty critic but left office in 2003 amid a widespread corruption scandal.
The charges stemmed from an eight-year investigation of corruption, starting at the drivers licensing bureau and eventually reaching the governor's office.
Ryan was indicted about a year after he left office. He was charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service, tax fraud and lying to the FBI, much of it from his time as secretary of state in the 1990s.
Ryan's co-defendant, Chicago businessman Larry Warner, 67, allegedly made $3 million from Ryan-era deals. Warner was charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, attempted extortion, illegally structuring bank withdrawals and money laundering.
Neither man took the stand during their trial, but both repeatedly said nothing they did was illegal.
[A href="jvascript:void(popitup('vny!://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/04/17/PH2006041700634.html',650,850))"][img height=190 alt="Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan waves as he arrives at Chicago's federal courthouse following jurors' announcement that they had reached a verdict in his racketeering and fraud trial after 10 days of deliberations in Chicago, Monday, April 17, 2006. Ryan, 72, was indicted in December 2003, about a year after he left office. He was charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service, tax fraud and lying to the FBI, much of it from his time as secretary of state in the 1990s. (AP Photo/Josh Lott)" src="vny!://media3.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2006/04/17/PH2006041700632.jpg" width=132 align=top border=0][/A]
[DIV id=caption]Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan waves as he arrives at Chicago's federal courthouse following jurors' announcement that they had reached a verdict in his racketeering and fraud trial after 10 days of deliberations in Chicago, Monday, April 17, 2006. Ryan, 72, was indicted in December 2003, about a year after he left office. He was charged with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, obstructing the Internal Revenue Service, tax fraud and lying to the FBI, much of it from his time as secretary of state in the 1990s. (AP Photo/Josh Lott)[SPAN id=credit][FONT color=#666666] (Josh Lott - AP)[/FONT][/SPAN][/DIV]
