Fawell reflects on prison life for Blagojevich, Ryan
Time marches on with or without you, as Scott Fawell knows all too well.
While the chief of staff to former Gov. George Ryan was serving time in federal prison for racketeering and fraud, his father died.
His relationship with fiance Andrea Coutretsis hung on only through a concerted effort while the couple lost their home and spent a small fortune on her biweekly visits to Yankton Federal Prison Camp in South Dakota, where he was incarcerated for 4½ years.
“I can't tell you how many ‘Dear John' letters people get,” Fawell said Tuesday. “People couldn't hang on.”
Free since 2008, living in Buffalo Grove and working as a political consultant, Fawell's mind was on former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, convicted on 17 of 20 corruption charges Monday at the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
It was also on his former boss, whose wife of 55 years, Lura Lynn Ryan, died after a lengthy battle with lung cancer Monday in a Kankakee hospital. Ryan is serving a 6½-year sentence in Terre Haute, Ind.
“What George is going through now has gotta be horrible. Him sitting there for the next couple years knowing she's not there. That's tough. But that's the way the system is.”
Fawell has a few bits of advice for Blagojevich, who could be sentenced to a decade or more behind bars.
“Find yourself a routine,” Fawell said. “You do the same thing every day to pass the time. You don't want to wake up every day and say ‘What do I do?' ... You get up and do it every day, and as the old saying goes, days turn into weeks, weeks turn into months, months turn into years.”
Blagojevich's relationship with wife Patti and daughters Amy, 14, and Annie, 8, will undoubtedly be pushed to the brink, Fawell says.
But Fawell says he knows from personal experience that relationships can be kept up.
“Andrea was great. South Dakota was no small chore. We spent a lot of money, got debt, but (it was) important enough to know (we were) keeping that connection.”
He says he believes the Blagojevich family will ultimately be OK because they have family to lean on.
“I don't think (Blagojevich's father-in-law) Dick Mell will turn his back on Patti and the grandkids,” Fawell said.
“That helps. But it's still tough (for Patti), raising kids on her own. All the pressures and responsibilities. Nothing anybody can do from prison. Decisions can't be made there.”
Fawell says he kept his sanity by not counting down the hours till he was paroled.
“I didn't have a calendar. I didn't have a watch. I didn't want any of that stuff,” Fawell said. “I'd say they can't execute me. Sooner or later I'm going to go home and pick up my life and things'll move on.”
He told himself to accept that “life deals you some unfortunate bad cards. You live with them. Suck it up and say it's a bad break.”
For Fawell, that meant twice-daily workouts, time in the yard with other inmates, hours of reading each night, and weekend work in the prison visiting room. Get ready to be seen as a number, not a former governor, he warns.
“You're all wearing the same clothes. They count you, they don't encourage independent thought, arrogance, cockiness. You pretty much have to get in line. You have to deal with it. You're somewhat at their mercy. They can break you down in any way you want. I know what he can expect, I went through the exact same thing. ... You have to check your ego at the door and pick it back up on your way out.”