Ex-Ill. Gov. Ryan faces changed world after prison

MICHAEL TARM SOPHIA TAREEN Associated Press Published:

CHICAGO (AP) -- When former Illinois Gov. George Ryan steps out of prison on Wednesday after serving five-plus years for corruption, he will return to a life altered by personal tragedy and to a state altered by his and his successor's legacy of corruption.

Ryan, who is headed to a halfway house in Chicago, will encounter an Illinois that has enacted reforms meant to thwart the kind of wheeling and dealing the Republican was accused of engaging in. The state has also changed because of Ryan's legal actions as governor: Following his lead, Illinois abolished the death penalty in 2011.

His personal tragedies include the death of his wife and brother while Ryan was behind bars. Change for the 78-year-old has also included weight loss from walking the grounds at his Terre Haute, Ind., prison, said friend Rob Warden, who visited Ryan a few months ago and has corresponded with him over his years behind bars.

"When I saw him, he was upbeat," said Warden, who is also an anti-capital punishment activist. "He has reconciled himself to what happened to him." At the same time, said Warden, Ryan still maintains that the actions for which he was convicted in 2006 never crossed the line into criminality.

Jurors convicted Ryan on multiple charges, including racketeering and conspiracy. They agreed that, among other crimes, he had steered state business to insiders as secretary of state and then as governor in exchange for vacations and gifts. He began serving a 6 ½-year prison sentence in November 2007 and is being released early into a halfway house under a work-release program.





Ryan switched from the pro- to anti-death penalty camp in the early 2000s, clearing death row while he was governor. Some critics questioned Ryan's motivation, saying it was a political diversion. But Warden, the executive director of the Chicago-based Center on Wrongful Convictions, and others disagree.

"He's stepping into a changed world -- and it's a changed world partly because of the leadership he showed (opposing capital punishment)," said Diann Rust-Tierney, president of the Washington, D.C.-based National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty.


"You never see people enjoying life in prison," said Laski, who recalled the first days after his release. "Suddenly, you're seeing people walk down the street, kids coming out of school. ... It's like, 'Wow, I'm back in society again.'"




"It's boring and a waste of time," he complained, saying halfway houses are primarily designed for convicted felons with no place to go to.

Ryan will likely be allowed to leave for church services and eventually will get to move back to his spacious home in Kankakee, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

His departure from prison follows a rich if ignominious history in Illinois of ex-governors arriving in and departing from prison. Of the state's last seven governors, four have ended up going to prison.


His successor, Democrat Rod Blagojevich, is serving a 14-year prison sentence on corruption charges, including allegations that he sought to sell President Barack Obama's vacated U.S. Senate seat.

Blagojevich's corruption, by comparison, were especially egregious -- corruption "on steroids," said David Morrison of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform.

"His penalty is also on steroids," he said about Blagojevich's sentence and the pointed message it sent to would-be corrupt leaders.


Cindi Canary, the former head of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, said there are signs Illinois residents' confidence in politicians is rebounding.

"Public trust really started to falter under Ryan, then it imploded and sunk under Blagojevich," she said.

Overall, the mechanism for catching corrupt Illinois politicians has improved since Ryan, Morrison said.



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