Former Illinois Governor George Ryan was sentenced Wednesday to 6½ years in prison in the corruption scandal that ruined his political career. “Government leaders have an obligation to stand as the example. Mr. Ryan failed to meet that standard,” U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer said in Chicago. Ryan was convicted in April of racketeering conspiracy, fraud, and other offenses for taking payoffs from political insiders in exchange for state business while he was a top state official from 1991 to 1999 and governor for four years after that. Prosecutors said Ryan awarded expensive contracts and leases to friends and others and received such things as vacations in return. Ryan also used state money and state workers for his campaigns, the government alleged. The scandal that led to Ryan's downfall began over a decade ago with a van crash in Wisconsin that killed six children. The 1994 wreck exposed a scheme inside Ryan's office in which truck drivers obtained licenses for bribes. The investigation expanded to other corrupt practices by Ryan. Seventy-nine former state officials, lobbyists, truck drivers, and others have been charged. Seventy-five have been convicted so far.
