Former Illinois Governor George Ryan dies at age 91; served prison time for corruption
Former Illinois Governor George Ryan has died at the age of 91. Former Republican State Rep. Jim Durkin confirmed Ryan's death.
Sources said Ryan and his family recently were in Florida, and he started to feel weak. He returned to Illinois, entered hospice care on Thursday, and died on Friday.
Ryan was a Republican who served as governor from 1999 to 2003. He had previously served as Illinois Secretary of State from 1991 to 1999, and lieutenant governor from 1983 to 1991 under Republican James R. Thompson.
Ryan was born in Maquoketa, Iowa in 1934 and raised in Kankakee County. He married Lura Lynn, his high school sweetheart, in 1956. They had six children together.
He began his political career as chairman of the Kankakee County Board before being elected to the Illinois House of Representatives to represent the 43rd district in 1973. He was reelected to the Illinois House five times, and served as speaker from 1981 to 1983.
Illinois Senate Republican Leader John Curran called Ryan "a bold leader who wasn't afraid to reach across the aisle and bring people together for the greater good."
"His investments in infrastructure, technology, and education to help create a brighter future for Illinois will long be remembered," Curran said in a statement. "I am thinking of his family and those who loved him, and wishing them strength and peace as they say goodbye."
Ryan is perhaps most well known for his fall from grace, after he was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the FBI when he was secretary of state and later as governor. But his checkered legal history dates back farther than that.
In 1982, as a state representative, Ryan came under fire or allegedly intervening in a nursing home investigation to help an operator who did business with his pharmacy.
From moratorium on death penalty to corruption conviction: Ryan's political rise and fall
The scandal that would eventually send him to prison began in 1994. Prosecutors said workers in his office issued driver's licenses to truck driver in exchange for bribes. One of those drivers was involved in a fatal crash caused by a part falling off a truck, which struck a van carrying the family of Rev. Duane "Scott" Willis and his wife Janet. The ensuing inferno killed six children.
"Drivers licenses were given to truck drivers who couldn't read the English language, who couldn't read the rules of the road," said University of Illinois Chicago political science professor Dick Simpson. "The corruption just can't be forgiven. It actually caused death."
Willis said he offered multiple times to sit down, have a meal, and forgive Ryan for the truck drivers' license bribery scandal, but Ryan was unwilling to meet with him. Willis did want to pass his condolences to Ryan's family on his passing.
Facing a federal corruption probe that was part of the Operation Safe Roads investigation, Ryan didn't run for reelection in 2002. He was indicted on 22 charges in December 2003, including racketeering, bribery, extortion, money laundering and tax fraud.
Ryan was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to six and a half years in prison, which he began serving in 2007.
In January of 2011 Ryan was allowed to leave prison to visit his dying wife Lura Lynn. She died six months later, and Ryan was again released from prison to be at her side, but was denied release to attend her funeral.
He was released from prison in 2013 to serve the rest of his sentence under home confinement.
Illinois State Sen. Dave Syverson (R-Cherry Valley) described Ryan as "a strong family man, despite his political and his legal issues."
But Syverson said Ryan's crimes as Illinois Secretary of State overshadowed the progress he later made as governor.
"If you do something inappropriate, that really highlights all the good things that you did for many years," Syverson said.
Despite his legal troubles, Ryan's former press secretary, Dennis Culloton, said, "he was the best guy I ever worked for."
"He took on issues that other elected officials, even today, would be afraid to come near," Culloton said.
While some said Ryan's fall from grace is what people will remember, those who knew him say he had a lot more to offer.
"He loved people. He loved meeting people all over the state. He loved government. He loved the government process and the political process. And he loved the state of Illinois," Culloton said.
In 1999, Ryan became the first sitting governor to meet with Cuban President Fidel Castro. That year he also created Illinois First, a multi-billion dollar public works program to rebuild roads, schools and transit.
Ryan received national attention in 2000 when he put a moratorium on executions in Illinois after several inmates on death row were found to be wrongfully convicted, and commuted the death sentences of more than 160 inmates. Democratic Governor Pat Quinn eventually signed the bill that abolished the death penalty in Illinois.
Attorney Dan Webb led Ryan's defense team during his 6-month corruption trial.
"George was found not guilty of many counts. He was convicted of some counts, but I've always said, and I believe deep in my heart, that that really does not detract from his courageous acts when he was governor of Illinois," he said.
Former Illinois House Republican Leader Jim Durkin, who was a state lawmaker for several years while Ryan was governor, said Ryan "was considered old school; something that we don't talk about anymore."
"He wouldn't do well in Washington right now. Old school is not bad. He found ways as a Republican governor to bridge the gap between Democrats and Republicans on very, very important issues; likewise with labor and management, and we don't see that too often anymore," Durkin said.
Ryan's former chief of staff, Scott Fawell, also praised the former governor's ability to work across the aisle.
"I was sorry to hear the news today of the passing of former Governor George Ryan. My deepest condolences go out to the entire Ryan family. George Ryan not only left his family behind, but countless friends all across Illinois. For me personally, he was both a mentor and a great friend," he said in a statement. "George's legacy was his strong belief that working across the aisle with both Republicans and Democrats was the best way to accomplish great things, and the best way to serve all the people of Illinois. He was a great leader as well as a good and compassionate man. He will be missed."
Ryan was succeeded in office by Rod Blagojevich, who also served time in prison for federal corruption charges that included trying to sell off a U.S. Senate appointment to the highest bidder after Barack Obama was elected president in 2008.
After his release from prison, Ryan continued to campaign against the death penalty and worked on a book about all the people he met in politics.
In 2020, he and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Maurice Possley published a book, "Until I Could Be Sure: How I Stopped The Death Penalty In Illinois." Ryan called his decision to place a moratorium on the death penalty in 2000 the greatest accomplishment of his career.
"I was a little uncomfortable at first doing it, because everybody knows if you're a republican, you were for the death penalty, and I was one of those guys, I believe. I was one of those Republicans that believed it was necessary to have the death penalty on the books, until I got involved first-handed and saw how it really operated," he said during a panel discussion on his book.
Joshua Tepfer, an attorney with The Exoneration Project – which provides free legal services to fight wrongful convictions – said he didn't know Ryan personally, but praised the ongoing impact of his death penalty decisions.
"It showed the best of politicians to me, in my mind, just from afar, as someone who could learn and be educated and take steps to actually use the power that that he amassed for good; and to do real, real good for people," he said.
