# Corrupt, convicted Governor, locked up in Federal pen? Nah, Bush ought to let the m **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 2, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351 "2008-12-02T15:57:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@Man\_With\_a\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_With_a_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/1 "2008-12-02T15:57:32Z")
I keep hearing about [this](http://www.suntimes.com/news/brown/1308668,CST-NWS-brown02.article)and any second now my head is going to blow into a million pieces. I mean, what in the name of all fuck is going through these people’s heads? All through his fucking trial all we got hit with was what a decent man he was, how he led an honorable life, and so on. I’m sure there a lot of pretty nice white-collar criminals in some cozy federal pen that have sick wives at home. Let’s not forget, they **broke the fucking law** , publicly and blatantly and so far, the only form of contrition from this jackass is some lame shit about the shame his **conviction** has brought him. Not a word there that even could be mistaken for apology: [quote=] Of Ryan’s perceived lack of remorse, Durbin pointed to an excerpt of Ryan’s petition to Bush in which Ryan expresses “a deep shame for me in serving this 78-month sentence resulting from my public corruption conviction.” “My failings have brought humiliation upon my family, cost me my reputation and name, brought financial ruin to me and my wife, and worst of all, caused me to be away from Lura Lynn when, in our twilight years, she needs me most,” Ryan wrote. [/quote] Wrinkly old prick, stay where you are and do every fucking second of that time. They ought to make him look every day at a mural of those Willis kids posted on an entire wall in his cell ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/2 "2008-12-02T16:12:28Z")
The only remorse he seems to show is a deep regret that he got caught. His “deep shame…in serving this 78-month sentence” is not the same thing as a deep shame for the deeds for which he was convicted. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/3 "2008-12-02T16:16:53Z")
As someone that has not followed this story, what did the “Wrinkly old prick” do to contribute to the cause of the deaths? ---
**Author:** ![chromaticity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@chromaticity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chromaticity)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/4 "2008-12-02T16:19:48Z")
Just thinking about the sheer gall of these guys makes me feel sick. This was a man who abused his power and did everything that he could to avoid the consequences. There is no need for him to be shown any special favors. Pardoning him, will be equivalent to telling all politicians that they cannot be tried the same as other “common folk”. All of the things that he feels **shameful** about are from his own doing. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/5 "2008-12-02T16:20:48Z")
Besides, pretty much everybody in prison has brought shame on themselves and their families and suffered because of it – and they still have to serve their time. I saw Michael Vick’s lawyer on tv the other day, saying that Michael is sorry for what he did and wants to go home. This makes me imagine gathering all the prisoners in the yard, and asking for a show of hands. “Okay, how many are sorry for what they did? Good! That shows personal growth. Now, do you want to go home? Show of hands. My goodness!” ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/6 "2008-12-02T16:24:59Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > As someone that has not followed this story, what did the “Wrinkly old prick” do to contribute to the cause of the deaths? [From the _State Journal-Register_](http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x596321715/Our-Opinion-George-Ryan-should-finish-his-sentence): > [@](#): > > ONLY THE MOST heartless would not be moved at what Durbin talked about Tuesday — Ryan’s wife, Lura Lynn, explaining to him the effect of her husband’s imprisonment on the Ryan family. It is profoundly sad that this nice lady is not spending her twilight years in the company of her husband, who will not leave prison until he is 79. > But there’s a sadder story familiar to many Illinoisans. It is the story of the Rev. Scott and Janet Willis. > > In 1994, they were driving behind a semi when a heavy metal part fell off it, striking their van and puncturing the gasoline tank. The part threw off sparks, igniting the gasoline and engulfing the van in flames, killing the Willis’ six children. > > A trucking company official later admitted he paid to fix the license test of the driver whose truck was involved in the accident that killed the Willis children. The bribes went into Ryan’s campaign fund. And Durbin wants to stick his neck out for this guy? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/7 "2008-12-02T16:27:53Z")
But he’s _real_ sorry! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/8 "2008-12-02T16:30:17Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > As someone that has not followed this story, what did the “Wrinkly old prick” do to contribute to the cause of the deaths? A truck driver’s license was given to an untested man that spoke no English in exchange for a donation to Ryan’s campaign. Said man caused a fiery wreck that killed 6 kids. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/9 "2008-12-02T16:30:21Z")
Thank you **Airman** , though I am still confused. What did the fix license test of the driver have to do with a heavy metal part falling off the truck? ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/10 "2008-12-02T16:30:47Z")
Political corruption should be punished much more severely than it is today. If governmental authority isn’t exercised legitimately, then it’s just extortion, theft, and assault on an epic scale. These people need to be sentenced like murderers. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/11 "2008-12-02T16:40:10Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Thank you **Airman** , though I am still confused. What did the fix license test of the driver have to do with a heavy metal part falling off the truck? He was able to get the license without passing the required road safety test, and it’s possible his negligent driving caused the part to fall of the truck. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/12 "2008-12-02T16:46:35Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > He was able to get the license without passing the required road safety test, and it’s possible his negligent driving caused the part to fall of the truck. Unless he had hit something since leaving the yard it sounds like the deaths were mostly the fault of the truck company and their maintenance procedures. Now if he was an owner/operator than I will buy it was the drivers fault or if he did hit something and just kept driving. None of this is to excuse Ryan, he obviously violated a public trust, I’m just not sure I see a reasonable connection to the deaths. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/13 "2008-12-02T16:52:50Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Unless he had hit something since leaving the yard it sounds like the deaths were mostly the fault of the truck company and their maintenance procedures. Now if he was an owner/operator than I will buy it was the drivers fault or if he did hit something and just kept driving. > > None of this is to excuse Ryan, he obviously violated a public trust, I’m just not sure I see a reasonable connection to the deaths. Drivers are required by law in most (all?) states to do visual safety inspections before departing the yard. If this was a result of something that should have been caught in the pre-departure inspection, then it was most definitely the driver’s fault. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/14 "2008-12-02T16:53:44Z")
[From here:](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16051850) > [@](#): > > The investigation into corruption in Ryan’s office began with a horrendous tragedy, while Ryan was still Illinois’ secretary of state. On Election Day 1994, a piece of a tail-light assembly fell off a semi-trailer on a Milwaukee expressway and bounced beneath a minivan, rupturing its gas tank and exploding the van into flames. Six children from the Willis family of Chicago, en route to a little getaway, were killed; their parents were severely burned. > > Other motorists told police they tried to warn the driver of the truck that the piece was dangling dangerously, but he didn’t understand English. Federal law requires truckers to know and read English to get a license, and investigators were alarmed that this driver — who was from Chicago — didn’t. Wisconsin authorities notified the Illinois secretary of state’s office, which licenses drivers and was then headed by the freshly re-elected Ryan. > > An internal investigation found the driver may have paid a bribe to get his license. Ryan’s response was to squash the probe and fire the investigators. Four years later, with Ryan campaigning for governor, federal prosecutors picked up the case. They began indicting employees in Ryan’s office for selling licenses for bribes and then funneling the cash into Ryan’s campaign fund. Ryan repeatedly denied he knew anything about the corruption. > > …The federal probe into Ryan’s former office widened, with investigators finding a wide-ranging scheme to use employees of the secretary of state’s office to raise cash for his campaign coffers. The probe culminated with Ryan’s indictment in 2004. In all, 79 people have been indicted in what the U. S. attorney’s office dubbed “Operation Safe Roads.” At least 75 people have been convicted, with no acquittals. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/15 "2008-12-02T17:08:13Z")
The incident with the Willis children was what started the investigation of Ryan but he was [guilty of a lot more than that](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Ryan#Scandals.2C_trial_and_conviction). > [@](#): > > 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. In late 2005, the case went to trial. The guy was so crooked he needed two aides to help him screw his pants on every morning. He spent years lying, stonewalling, firing investigators and denying any wrong-doing. Then he spent more years trying to stall his sentence, still denying any wrongdoing and never showing any remorse. Now he thinks he should get his sentence commuted because being in prison is embarrassing to him, not because he actually thinks he did anything wrong. Fuck him. If he’d ever shown the slightest bit of humility or remorse or confession, I might waver a little bit for an old man, but he hasn’t and he won’t. Let him serve every second. One thing he does deserve credit for as Governor is commuting all the state’s death sentences – a tough thing for a Republican to do – other than that, he’s a prick. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/16 "2008-12-02T17:12:18Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > One thing he does deserve credit for as Governor is commuting all the state’s death sentences – a tough thing for a Republican to do – other than that, he’s a prick. I wouldn’t even credit him for this - he very likely did it knowing the press would fawn over the decision (as they did) and thinking this would help him weather the corruption firestorm (which didn’t happen.) ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/17 "2008-12-02T17:15:01Z")
I think it’s hilarious that the current governor is one of the ones advocating for early release. He’s looking for a precedent of leniency because they’re coming for him next. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/18 "2008-12-02T17:18:58Z")
WTF is wrong with Durbin, by the way? Why is he going to bat for this clown? If Durbin was going to do this, he should have had the balls to do it before the election. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/19 "2008-12-02T17:24:03Z")
> [@](#): > > An internal investigation found the driver may have paid a bribe to get his license. Ryan’s response was to squash the probe and fire the investigators. This is what I’m failing to comprehend. How is it that he was able to shut down the investigation and ‘fire the investigators’? Sure he was a government official, but shouldn’t this have been initiated from somewhere outside his chain of command? Or at least have been innume to this kind of direct interference? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351/20 "2008-12-02T17:36:48Z")
> [@Projammer](#): > > This is what I’m failing to comprehend. How is it that he was able to shut down the investigation and ‘fire the investigators’? Sure he was a government official, but shouldn’t this have been initiated from somewhere outside his chain of command? Or at least have been innume to this kind of direct interference? The investigation was done by a police unit in the Illinois State Department (I think drivers’ licences were under that department’s jurisdiction, so that was why). They worked for Ryan. He disbanded the whole unit and said he was going to do his own probe. He never did. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/corrupt-convicted-governor-locked-up-in-federal-pen-nah-bush-ought-to-let-the-m/475351.md?page=2)