Ryan awaits word on possible release

Federal prison policies allow for the possibility that former Illinois Gov. George Ryan could visit his ailing wife in the hospital, but how free he'd be in making the trip, for how long and how much he'd have to pay for it would be largely up to his warden.

Any inmate can request a furlough to make a bedside visit to a gravely ill family member or attend a funeral, said Marvin Pitt, public-information officer at the medium security Terre Haute, Ind., federal prison where Ryan is serving his sentence.

But the decision, and logistics of such a trip, rest in the hands of Terre Haute Warden Charles Lockett, whose options include freeing Ryan for the duration of a furlough, requiring a U.S. marshal escort or simply keeping Ryan in prison as the disgraced former governor bids to be permitted to visit his wife of 55 years, Lura Lynn Ryan, who is said to be near death in a Kankakee hospital.

Ryan's attorneys said they have appealed directly to Lockett for his release.

A furlough is part of a two-pronged strategy. Ryan's lawyers have also been working on an appeal for his release on bond pending a case before a federal appellate court in Chicago, with government attorneys facing a deadline of 10 a.m. today to respond to the motion, which argues that Mrs. Ryan “has, at most, weeks to live.”

Thursday, the appeal to Lockett appeared to hold more promise, even as formal U.S. Board of Prisons policy prevented officials from commenting on Ryan's furlough request or when it might possibly be decided.

Pitt said it was “impossible to say” whether Ryan's release was likely, as all such requests are treated on a case-by-case basis. He also said he couldn't comment on any possible timeline, even as the situation has grown more urgent since Lura Lynn Ryan was hospitalized at the Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee on Wednesday suffering from complications from chemotherapy in her ongoing cancer treatment.

According to James Thompson, Ryan's attorney and fellow former governor, her family has been called to her side and has been told to take things “hour by hour.”

Formal policies at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons grant wardens wide discretion over how to handle such family emergencies. Lockett could schedule a staff-escorted trip allowing Ryan a visit with his wife. In that case, the government would pay the salaries of the escorts for the first eight hours of each day, but Ryan or an approved funding source would be responsible for the rest, including transportation costs. Ryan's attorneys have apparently suggested the idea of him serving time at night at the Kankakee County Correctional Center or the Jerome Combs Detention Center, both operated by the Kankakee County Sheriff's Office, while attending to his wife.

Lt. Michael Downey, the Kankakee County Sheriff's chief of corrections, said he'd been asked about such reports, but not by the Bureau of Prisons or Ryan's attorneys. “We've heard nothing from anybody,” he said. “We house federal prisoners as it is, so we're open to it,” he added. “It's not routine, but it's done.”

Lockett could, however, grant Ryan a full furlough “to be present during a crisis in the immediate family,” for as long as he deemed appropriate. That would not require an escort.

Whether a furlough is granted depends in part on the inmate's crime and history of behavior behind bars, Pitt said.

Ryan's attorneys have argued in their motion appealing for bond that the 76-year-old “is not a flight risk or a danger to the community.”

Ryan has served three years of a 6½-year sentence following his conviction on corruption charges, including racketeering, and is currently set for release on July 4, 2013. U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer ruled against his release just before Christmas as he pursues a new appeal under the newly redefined federal “honest services” statute.

Joseph Power Jr., attorney for Janet and Scott Willis, who lost six children in a 1994 traffic accident tied back to a truck-license bribery scandal while Ryan was secretary of state, issued a statement on their behalf, saying, “Scott and Janet did what they believed necessary to ensure accountability in this world for illegal conduct which led to the death of their six children. The current issues are in the hands of God and the judges of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals.”

• Daily Herald wire services contributed to this report