Ryan vows to prove innocence as he serves prison term
OXFORD, Wis. -- Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan slipped through a back gate at a rural federal prison today, avoiding any fanfare as he began serving a 6 1/2-year corruption sentence.
The 73-year-old Republican entered the correctional center about noon, Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman Felicia Ponce said, and managed to avoid a throng of media awaiting his arrival at the main entrance.
More Coverage Ryan's conscience 'clear' Ryan leaves a legacy of distrust Ryan's new home isn't the Ritz Oxford prison spokeswoman Christine Montonna said Ryan was "a high-profile inmate" and prison officials brought him in a back way to protect him and maintain order at the prison. "We felt it was a security step that we had to take," Montonna said when asked whether Ryan had received special treatment. She did not specify what, if any, danger Ryan might have faced. The pharmacist-turned-politician, who gained international acclaim for his opposition to the death penalty, has said he will continue fighting to clear his name even while sitting in prison. "Tomorrow I embark on a new journey in my life," the 73-year-old said Tuesday night surrounded by family and friends at his home in Kankakee, Ill. "I do so with a firm faith in God and the support and faith of my family." The former governor left the small town for the 255-mile trip to the lockup early Wednesday morning. He waved to a horde of reporters waiting for his departure and glanced at news helicopters overhead as he left but did not answer questions as he climbed into the front seat of a van, accompanied by his wife, Lura Lynn, and other family members. Ryan was convicted in April 2006 of steering contracts, tax fraud, misuse of tax dollars and state workers, and killing a bribery investigation. Elected governor in 1998, after serving as secretary of state, he was in office only a few weeks before the federal investigation became public. He served only one term. Ryan had hoped to remain free on bond while he appealed his convictions to the U.S. Supreme Court. But the snowy haired, husky voiced father of six lost his final bid to delay his prison term Tuesday, when U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens turned down his request to remain free on bail. He joined more than 200 other inmates at a minimum security camp at the federal prison near Oxford, said Mike Truman, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington, D.C. The camp is in a rural area about 60 miles north of Madison. It has four wings, each with 13 rooms that each house four inmates, much like a military barracks, Truman said. The former governor was told to arrive empty-handed. "He doesn't need anything," Truman said. Ryan will be fingerprinted, photographed and eventually given prison garb - a tan shirt and pants, white socks and steel-toed shoes. 512373Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan reads a statement to the media with his wife, Lura Lynn, right, and family outside their home in Kankakee as he prepares to head to the federal correctional center in Oxford, Wis.Associated Press 512335Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan speaks to reporters outside his home while friends and family watch Tuesday in Kankakee.Associated Press