Son of Ex-Illinois Gov Calls Ruling Denying Prison Release ‘Heartless and Cruel’
The son of former Illinois Gov. George Ryan calls a federal judge’s decision denying his father’s appeal “heartless and cruel.”
The former governor had sought to overturn his conviction under the honest services law, citing the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Skilling v. United States, Reuters reports. The Skilling decision had limited prosecutions under the statute to cases of bribery or kickbacks. Ryan had also sought release on bail pending his appeals because of the terminal illness of his wife of more than 50 years.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer of Chicago denied Ryan’s requests. Ryan was properly convicted under the law because he was guilty of “outright fraud” and received “streams of benefits” for his official acts, she said. “Skilling was not the sea change that Ryan urges,” Pallmeyer wrote in the opinion (PDF). She also said the decision to grant bail pending appeals after conviction rests mainly on the likelihood of success, and it wasn’t merited in this case.
Pallmeyer wrote that “any sensitive judge” realizes imprisonment robs a person of years with loved ones. “Mr. Ryan, like other convicted persons, undoubtedly wishes it were otherwise,” she wrote. “His conduct has exacted a stiff penalty not only for himself but also for his family.”
Ryan’s son, George Ryan Jr., told reporters his father was “devastated” by the ruling, according to the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. “We are tremendously saddened by Pallmeyer’s cold-hearted decision, which is heartless and cruel,” Ryan Jr. said. “Is this what the American justice system is all about?”
