Corrupt Illinois Gov. Must Report To Jail

Nearly two years after being convicted for starring in Illinois’ biggest political scandal, the state’s former governor will finally report to a federal prison next week to begin serving a 6 ½-year sentence for corruption.

Former Governor George Ryan has managed to remain free on bond while his attorney’s appeal his bribery and racketeering conviction and this week a federal appeals court ordered the disgraced Republican lawmaker to report to a correctional institution in Duluth, Minnesota.

The decision, read by Judge Diane Wood of the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, went like this: “Although they undoubtedly would like to postpone the day of reckoning as long as they can, they have come to the end of the line as far as this court is concerned."

Ryan was convicted about 18 months ago of steering state contracts to friends, using tax dollars to run his campaign and covering up driver’s license bribery. The conviction capped a massive political scandal that featured lengthy investigations and trials and sent dozens to prison.

Ryan will become the third Illinois governor to serve jail time. Democrat Otto Kerner served seven months of a three-year sentence for a racetrack stock scandal and Democrat Dan Walker served 17 months of a seven-year sentence for bank fraud and perjury involving a financial institution that he owned.