Former state employee fined $100,000

SPRINGFIELD - A former director of the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has been fined $100,000 for violating the ethics act for state employees.

The Executive Ethics Commission approved a settlement Wednesday between the Illinois attorney general and former Healthcare and Family Services Director Barry Maram.

Maram agreed to pay the state $100,000 to settle charges that he violated "revolving door provisions." Those are rules that apply to conflicts of interest in government contracts.

A May 2012 executive inspector general report found Maram violated state law by accepting a job with a law firm that had been awarded a state contract worth at least $25,000.

Maram says he's "never compromised" his integrity or the public's trust.