Former Illinois Governor George Ryan dies at age 91, sources confirm; served prison time for corruption
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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 Robert Thompson.
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 and state and later as governor.
His office was engaged in a scandal in which workers issued driver’s licenses to truck driver in exchange for bribes. One of those drivers was involved in a fatal crash that killed six children of Rev. Duane “Scott” Willis and his wife Janet.
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 2023, 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 denied release to attend her funeral.
He was released from prison in 2013 to serve the rest of his sentence under home confinement.
Ryan received national attention in 2000 when he put a moratorium on executions in Illinois 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.
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.
