Feds urge appeals court to make Ryan start his sentence

Prosecutors said Tuesday that former Gov. George Ryan and a co-defendant have little chance of getting their corruption convictions overturned and they should start serving their prison sentences.

They said chances were dim that the U.S. Supreme Court would consider the appeal of Ryan and co-defendant Larry Warner.

"Given that a grant of certiorari is highly unlikely, it is time for the defendants to begin serving their sentences," federal prosecutors said in a five-page motion filed with the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

A "grant of certiorari" is an agreement by the Supreme Court to hear an appeal from a lower court. The nation's highest court "takes certiorari" in only a small fraction of the cases that are brought to it.

Ryan and Warner, who were convicted on corruption charges in April 2006, want the appeals court to allow them to remain free on bond while appealing to the Supreme Court.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court turned down an appeal of their conviction in a 2-1 split decision in August. And the appeals court refused 6-3 to convene all the court's active judges to reconsider.

If the appeals court denies Ryan and Warner's request to remain free while they go to the Supreme Court, they are expected to petition Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens for an appeal bond. He handles such requests coming from the Chicago-based 7th Circuit.

Ryan's chief defense attorney, former Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, told reporters last week that if that failed Ryan would have to go to prison. Trial Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer has set a Nov. 7 reporting date.

Ryan has been assigned to serve his sentence at Minnesota's Federal Correctional Institution Duluth, although he wants the assignment changed to the federal prison at Oxford, Wis., closer to Illinois.

Ryan has been sentenced to 6 1/2 years and Warner to almost 3 1/2.

Appeal bonds are unusual. Most defendants who are convicted of federal crimes and sentenced to prison must report fairly soon after sentencing.

Ryan and Warner have been free on appeal bond for more than a year while their attorneys have argued that their case raises special issues.

Federal prosecutors told the appeals court Tuesday, however, that under the law bond should only be issued if there is a reasonable probability that four justices of the Supreme Court will vote to grant certiorari and a reasonable possibility that five justices will vote to reverse the case.

"It is highly unlikely that the Supreme Court will grant certiorari in this case, much less that five justices will vote to reverse," they said.