Illinois House of Representatives
George Ryan took which position from 1981 to 1983?
George Ryan George Homer Ryan ( born February 24 , 1934 ) is an American former politician who was the Republican 39th Governor of Illinois from 1999 until 2003 . Ryan received national attention for his 1999 moratorium on executions in Illinois and for commuting more than 160 death sentences to life sentences in 2003 . He was later convicted of federal corruption charges and spent more than five years in federal prison and seven months of home confinement . He was released from federal prison on July 3 , 2013 . Early life . George Homer Ryan was born in Maquoketa , Iowa to Jeannette ( née Bowman ) and Thomas Ryan , a pharmacist . Ryan grew up in Kankakee County , Illinois . After serving in the U.S . Army in Korea , he worked for his fathers two drugstores . He attended Ferris State College of Pharmacy ( now Ferris State University ) in Big Rapids , Michigan . Eventually , he built his fathers pair of pharmacies into a successful family-run chain ( profiting from lucrative government-contract business selling prescription drugs to nursing homes ) which he sold in 1990 . Ryan was drafted into the U.S . Army in 1954 . He served a 13-month tour in Korea , working in a base pharmacy . On June 10 , 1956 , Ryan married his high school sweetheart , Lura Lynn Lowe ( July 5 , 1934 – June 27 , 2011 ) , whom he had met in a high school English class . She grew up in Aroma Park , where her family ( originally from Germany ) had lived since 1834 . Her father owned one of the first hybrid seed companies in the United States . The couple had five daughters ( including a set of triplets ) ; Julie , Joanne , Jeanette , Lynda and Nancy ; and one son , George Homer Ryan , Jr . Lura Lowe died of lung cancer at Riverside Hospital in Kankakee on June 27 , 2011 . Ryans brother , Tom , was a prominent political figure in Kankakee County . In addition , Ryans sister Kathleen Deans former son-in-law , Bruce Clark , is the Kankakee County , Illinois Clerk . Political career . Ryan began his political career by serving on the Kankakee County Board from 1968 to 1973 ( his brother Tom J . Ryan was Mayor of Kankakee for 20 years from 1965 to 1985 ) . He was then elected to the Illinois House of Representatives , where he served from 1973 to 1983 , including two terms as Minority Leader and one term as Speaker . He then spent 20 years in statewide office , as Lieutenant Governor under Governor James R . Thompson ( 1983–91 ) , Secretary of State from 1991 to 1999 , and as governor from 1999 to 2003 . During his first term as Secretary of State , then–State Treasurer Pat Quinn was publicly critical of Ryan . Specifically , he drew attention to special vanity license plates that Ryans office provided for clout-heavy motorists . This rivalry led Quinn in a failed bid to challenge Ryan in the 1994 general election for Secretary of State . Term as governor . Ryan was elected Governor in 1998 , defeating his opponent , Glenn Poshard , by a 51–47% margin . Ryans running mate was first-term state representative Corinne Wood . Ryan outspent Poshard by a 4-to-1 margin . Poshard , a firm believer in campaign finance reform , placed limits on individual donations and refused to accept donations from corporate or special interests . One of Ryans pet projects as governor was an extensive repair of the Illinois Highway System called Illinois FIRST . FIRST was an acronym for Fund for Infrastructure , Roads , Schools , and Transit . Signed into law in May 1999 , the law created a $6.3 billion package for use in school and transportation projects . With various matching funds programs , Illinois FIRST provided $2.2 billion for schools , $4.1 billion for public transportation , another $4.1 billion for roads , and $1.6 billion for other projects . He also improved Illinoiss technology infrastructure , creating one of the first cabinet-level Offices of Technology in the country and bringing up Illinoiss technology ranking in a national magazine from 48th out of the 50 states when he took office to 1st just two years later . Ryan committed record funding to education , including 51% of all new state revenues during his time in office , in addition to the billions spent through Illinois FIRST that built and improved schools and education infrastructure . In 1999 , Ryan sparked controversy by becoming the first sitting U.S . Governor to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro . Ryans visit led to a $1 million donation of humanitarian aid , but drew criticism from anti-Castro groups . In 2000 , Ryan served as a chair of the Midwestern Governors Association . Capital punishment . Ryan helped to renew the national debate on capital punishment when , as governor , he declared a moratorium on his states death penalty in 2000 . This decision was heavily influenced by lawsuits filed by exonerated prisoners who made false confessions as a result of police torture under the direction of a police commander named Jon Burge . We have now freed more people than we have put to death under our system , he said . There is a flaw in the system , without question , and it needs to be studied . At the time , Illinois had executed 12 people since the reinstatement of the death penalty in 1977 , with one execution , that of Ripper Crew member Andrew Kokoraleis , occurring early during Ryans term . Ryan refused to meet with religious leaders and others regarding a stay of execution in light of the impending moratorium and other facts relative to the flawed capital punishment system in Illinois ; in fact , under Ryans governorship , 13 people were released from jail after appealing their convictions based on new evidence . Ryan called for a commission to study the issue , while noting , I still believe the death penalty is a proper response to heinous crimes .. . But I believe that it has to be where we dont put innocent people to death . The issue had garnered the attention of the public when a death row inmate , Anthony Porter , who had spent 15 years on death row , was within two days of being executed when his lawyers won a stay on the grounds that he may have been mentally disabled . He was ultimately exonerated with the help of a group of student journalists at Northwestern University who had uncovered evidence that was used to prove his innocence . In 1999 , Porter was released , charges were subsequently dropped , and another person , Alstory Simon , confessed and pleaded guilty to the crime of which Porter had been erroneously convicted . Simon himself was later released after serving fifteen years for the crime , after it was proven that he , too , was wrongfully accused . On January 11 , 2003 , just two days before leaving office , Ryan commuted ( to life terms ) the sentences of everyone on or waiting to be sent to Illinois death row — a total of 167 convicts — due to his belief that the death penalty could not be administered fairly . He also pardoned four inmates , Aaron Patterson , Madison Hobley and Leroy Orange ( all of whom were interrogated by Burge and released ) , and Stanley Howard . However , Patterson is currently serving 30 years in prison after being arrested for drug trafficking he committed after his release from death row . Howard remains in prison for armed robbery . Ryan declared in his pardon speech that he would have freed Howard if only his attorney had filed a clemency petition ; Ryan then strongly urged investigators to examine Howards alleged robbery case , because it appeared to be as tainted as his murder conviction . These were four of ten death row inmates known as the Death Row 10 , due to widely reported claims that the confessions that they had given in their respective cases had been coerced through torture . Ryan is not the first state governor to have granted blanket commutations to death row inmates during his final days in office . Arkansas Governor Winthrop Rockefeller also commuted the sentence of every death row inmate in that state as he left office after losing his 1970 bid for a third two-year term , as did New Mexico Governor Toney Anaya before he left office in 1986 and Ohio Governor Dick Celeste before he left office in 1990 . Ryan won praise from death penalty opponents : as early as 2001 , he received the Mario Cuomo Act of Courage Award from Death Penalty Focus , in 2003 the Rose Elizabeth Bird Commitment to Justice Award from the same organization , and in 2005 he was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize . On the other side of the Atlantic , Robert Badinter , who had successfully introduced the bill abolishing the death penalty in France in 1981 praised Ryans decision . Many conservatives , though , were opposed to the commutations , some questioning his motives , which came as a federal corruption investigation closed in on the governor and his closest political allies ( see below ) . Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan called Ryan pathetic , and suggested the governor was attempting to save his public image in hopes of avoiding prison himself . Buchanan noted Ryan announced his decision to a wildly cheering crowd at the Northwestern University Law School . Families of the victims of the soon-to-be-reprieved killers were not invited . Scandals , trial , and conviction . Ryans political career was marred by a scandal called Operation Safe Road , which involved the illegal sale of government licenses , contracts and leases by state employees during his prior service as Secretary of State . In the wake of numerous convictions of his former aides , he chose not to run for reelection in 2002 . Seventy-nine former state officials , lobbyists , and others were charged in the investigation , and at least 76 were convicted . The corruption scandal leading to Ryans downfall began more than a decade earlier during a federal investigation into a deadly crash in Wisconsin . Six children from the Willis family of Chicago , Illinois , were killed ; their parents , Rev . Duane and Janet Willis , were severely burned . The investigation revealed a scheme inside Ryans Secretary of States office in which unqualified truck drivers obtained licenses through bribes . In March 2003 , Scott Fawell , Ryans former chief of staff and campaign manager , was convicted on federal charges of racketeering and fraud . He was sentenced to six years and six months . Former deputy campaign manager Richard Juliano pleaded guilty to related charges and testified against Fawell at trial . Roger Stanley , a former Republican state representative who was hired by Ryan and testified against Fawell , pleaded guilty to wide-ranging corruption , admitting he paid kickbacks to win state contracts and campaign business , secretly mailed out vicious false attacks on political opponents and helped obtain ghost-payrolling jobs . Indictment . The investigation finally reached the former governor , and in December 2003 , Ryan and lobbyist Lawrence Warner were named in a 22-count federal indictment . The charges included racketeering , bribery , extortion , money laundering and tax fraud . The indictment alleged that Ryan steered several state contracts to Warner and other friends ; disbursed campaign funds to relatives and to pay personal expenses ; and obstructed justice by attempting to end the state investigation of the license-for-bribes scandal . He was charged with lying to investigators and accepting cash , gifts and loans in return for his official actions as governor . On September 19 , 2005 , the case went to trial . Fawell , under pressure from prosecutors , became a key witness against Ryan and Warner . He agreed to a plea deal that cut the prison time for himself and his fiancée , Andrea Coutretsis . Fawell was a controversial witness , not hiding his disdain for prosecutors from the witness stand . According to CBS Chicago political editor Mike Flannery , insiders claimed that Fawell had been much like a son to Ryan throughout their careers . At Ryans trial , Fawell acknowledged that the prosecution had his head in a vise , and that he found his cooperation with the government against Ryan the most distasteful thing Ive ever done . Nonetheless , he spent several days on the witness stand testifying against Ryan and Warner . Once a tough-talking political strategist , Fawell wept on the witness stand as he acknowledged that his motivation for testifying was to spare Coutretsis a long prison sentence for her role in the conspiracy . The jury was twice sent out of the courtroom so that he could wipe tears from his eyes and regain his composure . Ryans daughters and a son-in-law , Michael Fairman , were implicated by testimony during the trial . Stipulations agreed upon by the defense and prosecution and submitted to the court included admissions that all five of Ryans daughters received illegal payments from the Ryan campaign . In addition to Lynda Fairman , who received funds beyond those her husband Michael testified he had received , the stipulations included admissions from the rest of Ryans daughters that they did little or no work in return for the payments . In addition , Fawell testified that Ryans mothers housekeeper was illegally paid from campaign funds , and that Ryans adopted sister , Nancy Ferguson , received campaign funds without performing campaign work . The prosecution took nearly four months to present their case , as a parade of other witnesses ( including Juliano ) followed Fawell . On April 17 , 2006 , the jury found Ryan and Warner guilty on all counts . However , when ruling on post-trial motions , the judge dismissed two counts against Ryan for lack of proof . Ryan said that he would appeal the verdict , largely due to the issues with the jury . Patrick Fitzgerald , the federal prosecutor , noted , Mr . Ryan steered contracts worth millions of dollars to friends and took payments and vacations in return . When he was a sitting governor , he lied to the FBI about this conduct and then he went out and did it again . He charged that one of the most egregious aspects of the corruption was Ryans action after learning that bribes were being paid for licenses . Instead of ending the practice he tried to end the investigation that had uncovered it , Fitzgerald said , calling the moment a low-water mark for public service . On September 6 , 2006 , Ryan was sentenced to six and a half years in prison . He was ordered to go to prison on January 4 , 2007 , but the appellate court granted an appeal bond , allowing him to remain free pending the outcome of the appeal . His conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeals of the Seventh Circuit on August 21 , 2007 , and review by the entire Seventh Circuit was denied on October 25 , 2007 . The Seventh Circuit then rejected Ryans bid to remain free while he asked the U.S . Supreme Court to hear his case ; the opinion called the evidence of Ryans guilt overwhelming . The Supreme Court rejected an extension of his bail , and Ryan reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Oxford , Wisconsin , on November 7 , 2007 . He was transferred on February 29 , 2008 , to a medium security facility in Terre Haute , Indiana , after Oxford changed its level of medical care and stopped housing inmates over 70 years old . He was listed as Federal Inmate Number 16627-424 and was released on July 3 , 2013 . Defense and appeal . Ryans defense was provided pro bono by Winston & Strawn , a law firm managed by former governor Jim Thompson . The defense cost the firm $10 million through mid-November 2005 . Estimates of the cost to the firm as of September 2006 ranged as high as $20 million . Ryan served as Thompsons lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991 . After the United States Supreme Court declined to hear Ryans appeal , Thompson indicated that he would ask then President George W . Bush to commute Ryans sentence to time served . United States Senator Dick Durbin wrote a letter to Bush dated December 1 , 2008 , asking him to commute Ryans sentence , citing Ryans age and his wifes frail health , saying , This action would not pardon him of his crimes or remove the record of his conviction , but it would allow him to return to his wife and family for their remaining years . Bush did not commute Ryans sentence . After his conviction Ryans annual $197,037 state pension was suspended under state law . Ryans attorneys litigated the pension matter all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court , which ruled on February 19 , 2010 , that state law plainly mandates that none of the benefits provided for under the system shall be paid to Ryan . Ryan was paid $635,000 in pension benefits during the three years between his retirement and his political corruption conviction , plus a refund of the $235,500 in personal contributions he made during his 30 years in public office . Sentencing . In 2010 , Ryan requested early release , partly because his wife had terminal cancer and was given only six months to live , and partly on the grounds that some of his convictions should be vacated in light of a Supreme Court ruling that was alleged to have affected their legitimacy . On December 21 , 2010 , U.S . District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer denied Ryans request . On January 5 , 2011 , Ryan was taken from his prison cell in Terre Haute , Indiana , to a hospital in Kankakee to visit his dying wife . He was present when she died five months after that visit . Ryan entered a Salvation Army halfway house in Chicago on January 30 , 2013 . Less than three hours later , he was released back to his home in Kankakee where he remained on home confinement until July 3 , 2013 . Electoral history . - 1998 – Illinois Governor - George Ryan ( R ) 51% - Glenn Poshard ( D ) 47.5% - Lawrence Redmond ( Reform ) 1.5% - 1994 – Illinois Secretary of State - George Ryan ( R ) 61.5% - Patrick Quinn ( D ) 38.5% - 1990 – Illinois Secretary of State - George Ryan ( R ) 53.5% - Jerome Cosentino ( D ) 46.5% References . - NBC News External links . - CNN.com : Blanket commutation empties Illinois death row , January 11 , 2003 . - Biography from site supporting his nomination for a Nobel Peace Prize - Chicago Sun-Times archive on The George Ryan Trial - Strange Hero : George Ryan and the death penalty