Poor George: Judge upholds decision to yank pension
CIRCUIT COURT | Convicted ex-gov out $197,000 a year
He was convicted of enriching himself and his pals during his 12 years as governor and secretary of state -- and that's enough to wipe out the entire $197,000 annual pension George Ryan accrued during more than three decades in four different state offices.
That was the basic ruling Thursday by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Martin S. Agran, who upheld an earlier decision by Illinois pension officials and ordered "a total forfeiture of all benefits," including the $60,000 a year from earlier offices held by the Kankakee Republican.
Ryan, 73, declined to comment, but former GOP Gov. Jim Thompson said his friend, former lieutenant governor and legal client took the news in stride.
(Scott Stewart/Sun-Times file)
"I don't think optimism is the right note, but he took it well. He understood."
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, whose office fought to deny Ryan his pension and state health care benefits, hailed the decision.
"Former Gov. Ryan breached the public trust, using his positions within state government to engage in widespread criminal conduct," the North Side Democrat said. "Ryan's actions were exactly the type of misconduct that our pension forfeiture law is designed to discourage."
Ryan appealed to the Circuit Court after the General Assembly Retirement System suspended his monthly pension payments of about $16,400 last year because of his April conviction on racketeering, conspiracy and other corruption charges.
Ryan was sentenced to 6½ years in prison for scheming to steer state contracts and leases to pals and using government resources for his own gain. He remains free pending his appeals.
His lawyers argued that because Ryan was convicted for activities during his years as governor and secretary of state, he is still entitled to pension benefits he accrued earlier.
But Agran rejected that argument.
"Ryan's service for the General Assembly and as lieutenant governor, secretary of state and governor were all for a single employer -- the State of Illinois," Agran wrote. "The forfeiture provision was triggered when the federal district court convicted Ryan of ... criminal activity."
Agran ruled that Ryan would have been entitled to keep any pension he earned while serving on the Kankakee County Board from 1966 to 1972, but he said Ryan didn't serve long enough to get any benefits from that separate fund.
The convicted governor could still be eligible for a refund of the $235,000 he contributed to his state pension over the years.
Ryan lawyer Ray Mitchell argued that the $60,000 annual pension they are seeking has "a human aspect" to it because Ryan and his wife, Lura Lynn, have no substantial assets other than their home, and Lura Lynn Ryan would lose her husband's Social Security benefits during any time he spends in prison.
"This pension is of enormous practical importance to the Ryans because this is all they have left," Mitchell said.
Thompson, who tapped Ryan to run as his lieutenant governor in 1982, said no one should take delight in Thursday's decision.
"Either we're right or the judge is right, and it's a question of what the Appellate Court says," Thompson said. "We think he is entitled to the partial pension."
"I don't think optimism is the right note, but he took it well. He understood."