Ex-Ill. Gov. Ryan indicted on payoff charges

CHICAGO - Former Gov. George Ryan, who gained a worldwide reputation as a critic of the death penalty, was indicted Wednesday on charges of taking payoffs in a corruption scandal that shadowed his four years in office and cut short his political career.

Prosecutors said the 69-year-old Republican and his family took cash, gifts, vacations and other favors to steer state business to friends and associates while he was governor and, before that, Illinois secretary of state.

"Basically the state of Illinois was for sale," U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said.

Ryan did not immediately return a call for comment. His attorney, Dan Webb, issued a statement saying he was confident Ryan "will be exonerated and a jury will find him not guilty of all charges."

Ryan, who served as secretary of state from 1991 to 1999 and governor from 1999 to January 2003, has said he knew there was a culture of corruption in the secretary of state's office but was unaware of the specifics.

He becomes the third Illinois governor indicted in the past 40 years.

Outside Illinois, Ryan is best known for declaring a moratorium on executions in Illinois after it was discovered 13 wrongfully convicted men had been sent to death row.

In January, just before leaving office, he cleared out Illinois' death row, pardoning four condemned prisoners and commuting the death sentences of 167 to life in prison.

The scandal was a factor in his 2001 decision not to seek a second term, and his unpopularity was considered a major reason GOP candidates were routed statewide in 2002, including the election of a Democratic governor for the first time since 1972.

The five-year federal investigation initially focused on the selling of drivers' licenses for bribes at the secretary of state's office, which oversees the motor vehicle agency. But the investigation was soon expanded to a range of corruption under Ryan.

The investigation seemed to draw inexorably closer to Ryan as prosecutors landed dozens of convictions. Ryan became the 66th person charged; 59 people and his campaign committee have been convicted.

Among those convicted were Ryan's top aides, including his chief of staff and the inspector general, who was supposed to ferret out misconduct in the secretary of state's office but covered up the scandals.

Prosecutors say Ryan helped his friends reap millions of dollars in profits from state government. Ryan and members of his family allegedly shared $167,000 in graft that included payoffs, free vacations and cash siphoned out of his campaign fund.

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