Retro Post

4/18/2006
RYAN IS GUILTY - A FEDERAL JURY FINDS RYAN GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS!
Finally, some vindication for the state of Illinois! Yesterday former Illinois governor George Ryan was found guilty on all counts in his racketeering and fraud trial. Also found guilty was his friend and co-defendant Larry Warner.

After a five-month trial in federal court a jury found Ryan guilty. I should not take pleasure in this I know. :o) I watched as Ryan led our state from a healthy financial standing to utter financial ruin. I watched as his office under his guidance while he was Secretary of State sold driver's licenses to truck drivers who had the money to pay a bribe. I watched, while as his final act in office as governor, he declared a moratorium on the death penalty in the state of Illinois.

The scandal that to led Ryan's downfall began over a decade ago with a van crash in Wisconsin that killed six children. The 1994 wreck exposed a scheme inside the Illinois secretary of state's office in which truck drivers obtained licenses for bribes.

Ryan is the third former Illinois governor in the past three decades to be convicted of federal felonies. Otto Kerner was found guilty in a racing stock scandal; Dan Walker was convicted of corruption involving bank loans.

I would hope that this will be the end of corruption in the state of Illinois. I seriously doubt that is the case!