Prosecutors: Ryan shouldn't be released early

U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer Thursday set a Nov. 1 date to determine if imprisoned former Gov. George Ryan should be released after the U.S. Supreme Court sharply curtailed the "honest services" statute used to convict him of corruption.

Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb argued the point in court, joined by former Gov. Jim Thompson, his legal partner at Winston & Strawn, which has provided Ryan's defense pro bono.

Ryan's wife, Lura Lynn, who attended the hearing, is on constant oxygen, and Webb said she is "terminally ill" with pulmonary fibrosis and has perhaps "one, two, three years to live."

Webb said that constituted "extraordinary circumstances" and called for Ryan's immediate release pending a final decision on the "honest services" convictions. "What I'd like the court to consider strongly," he said, "is the motion for bail."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laurie Barsella countered that the argument for bond was the same as the argument to have Ryan's sentence modified, and she rejected that, while adding that she would not be able to file a formal response to Ryan's motion until Oct. 7.

Pallmeyer agreed and set Nov. 1 for a hearing on both matters.

Webb argued the convictions on charges involving "honest services" should be set aside after the Supreme Court ruled in June on the statute, which states that citizens have a right to honest services from elected officials. The high court ruled that the statute only applied to direct bribes and kickbacks, not exchanges of services or other intangibles, much of which was at the core of the case against Ryan. Webb said if they were to remove those convictions, Ryan should be free on time served for the other corruption counts.

Ryan has served almost three years on what was originally a six-and-a-half-year sentence.

"George Ryan is now in prison doing time for something the U.S. Supreme Court has said is not a crime," Webb said afterward.

"This case is all about bribes and kickbacks," Barsella replied in court, and argued the Supreme Court ruling had no effect on any of Ryan's convictions.

Webb called the 76-year-old Ryan "a very strong man," as well as "patient" and "optimistic," adding, "We've given him some encouragement" in the belief he could soon be released. "He's got a variety of health issues," Webb said, "but he's doing all right in prison."

Lura Lynn Ryan spoke briefly to reporters afterward and said she missed her husband greatly. Asked after her own health, she said, "I'm breathing right now as well as I can."

Ryan was convicted in 2006, and after losing his appeals is due for release in 2013. The motion to vacate was actually filed as a new suit against the government last month.