Ex-Ill. Governor Must Report to Federal Prison

Justice Stevens denies Ryan's last-ditch bid to remain free on bail
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 6, 2007 4:29 PM CST
Ex-Ill. Governor Must Report to Federal Prison
Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan speaks about his views on the death penalty during a radio talk show in Chicago in this photo from Dec. 4, 2006. Ryan, convicted on racketeering and fraud charges in April 2006, was ordered Friday, Oct. 26, 2007, to start serving a 6 1/2-year prison sentence in less...   (Associated Press)

George Ryan will report to prison tomorrow after Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens today refused the ex-Illinois governor's request to stay free on bail while fighting a corruption conviction. Ryan, 73, will begin serving his 6½-year sentence in a Wisconsin prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. He was convicted in 2006 of steering lucrative contracts to friends and taking kickbacks.

Ryan has been free on bail since the conviction, and his lawyers claim jury controversy denied him a fair trial. One appellate judge did deem the original proceedings “riddled with errors,” the Chicago Sun-Times notes. Ryan will still be able to bring his appeal before the full Supreme Court, but now he’ll have to do so from behind bars. (More George Ryan stories.)

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