Ryan to Remain in Prison

By Chuck Sudo in News on Dec 21, 2010 6:40PM

Once again, a request by former Governor George Ryan's attorneys to have him released from his 6-1/2 year prison sentence early was met with a smackdown from U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer.

Ryan's attorneys have been arguing that he be released under the narrower guidelines of the "honest services law" established by the Supreme Court in the case of former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling. While Pallmeyer said that the honest services law is relevant in Ryan's case, she wrote in her ruling (PDF) why Ryan's case is different:

"Skilling had been charged with 'conspiring to defraud Enron’s shareholders by misrepresenting the company’s fiscal health, thereby artificially inflating its stock price.'... Skilling was prosecuted for these acts, characterized as depriving his private employer and its shareholders of the intangible right to his honest services, and the Supreme Court 'acknowledge[d] that Skilling’s vagueness challenge has force.'

"George Ryan, on the other hand, held statewide elected office, and as more fully described below, the conduct for which he was convicted—steering contracts, leases, and other governmental benefits in exchange for private gain—was well-recognized before his conviction as conduct that falls into the 'solid core' of honest services fraud. Such conduct was identified by the Court in Skilling as the proper target of § 1346. Id. at 2930-31."

Ryan's attorneys were hoping that Pallmeyer would show mercy on Ryan and release him to be with his wife, Lura Lynn. George Ryan's attorneys announced last week in court filings that Lura Lynn Ryan was gravely ill with a terminal lung disease and a recent discovery of a mass on her lungs leaves her with three-to-six months to live.