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Prosecutors urge court not to grant Ryan appeals bond
CHICAGO | Prosecutors urged a court of appeals Monday to deny former Gov. George Ryan's request to postpone the day he must report to prison to start serving his 6 1/2-year racketeering and fraud sentence.
Ryan's lawyers asked the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in October to grant the 72-year-old a bond that would allow him to remain free while his conviction is on appeal. Earlier the same month, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer had rejected the appeal bond.
In their 20-page filing with the appeals court, Ryan's lawyers argued that trial Judge Pallmeyer erred in taking "the unprecedented step of removing two jurors and substituting two alternates after eight days of deliberations."
But in their 38-page filing on Monday, prosecutors responded that Pallmeyer had been "very careful" and "scrupulous" during the six-month trial. As a result, they said, it is unlikely Ryan's appeal of his conviction will succeed.
Ryan was convicted in April of steering state contracts to longtime friend Larry Warner and others, using state money and manpower to run his campaigns and sabotaging an investigation of bribery in state drivers license facilities.
Defendants convicted of federal crimes are rarely granted appeal bonds.
Ryan is due to start his sentence Jan. 4. AP
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