The federal indictment against the former Illinois governor charges him with conspiracy and fraud while he was governor and secretary of state. His tenure as secretary of state, which began in 1991, was tainted by years of scandal that led to a federal investigation dubbed Operation Safe Road.
Prior to the investigation
1993
March: Authorities raid the Libertyville licensing facility following an undercover investigation into the illegal sale of driver’s licenses by secretary of state employees. Prosecutors say the investigation later was quashed by secretary of state officials to protect Ryan.
1994
Nov. 8: On the day Ryan is re-elected secretary of state, a highway crash caused by a truck driver with a fraudulent license kills six children.
1995
May: Scott Fawell, Ryan’s chief of staff, fires or transfers investigators who had been asking about the link between Ryan’s fundraising and the selling of driver’s licenses.
1997
Sept. 2: Ryan formally launches his campaign for governor.
The probe begins to take shape
1998
April: Reports of licensing corruption in the secretary of state’s office surface. Ryan rebuts the allegations.
August: Glenn Poshard, Ryan’s Democratic opponent for governor, calls for an investigation into allegations that secretary of state resources were used for political activities.
Sept. 3: Authorities raid the Melrose Park licensing facility, the first public indication that a probe is under way. Two top managers are charged with taking bribes to issue licenses to unqualified truck drivers.
Sept. 17: The Democratic Party pays for an ad campaign suggesting a link between Ryan and the 1994 accident.
Oct. 10: Ryan denies allegations that one of his former investigators was told to drop the probe of the trucker in the deadly 1994 accident.
Nov. 3: Ryan is elected governor.
Nov. 23: Mary Ann Mastrodomenico, a manager at the Melrose licensing facility, pleads guilty to racketeering conspiracy.
December : Fawell approves pay raises for secretary of state workers who had been helpful to the campaign.
The scandal explodes
1999
April: Six secretary of state employees are indicted for widespread corruption. All later plead guilty.
December: The licensing scandal grows; 14 current and former employees are convicted for taking bribes to fix driving tests.
2001
January: Dean Bauer, former inspector general, becomes the highest-ranking former official in the secretary of state’s office to be convicted after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice. He later is sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison with 2 years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Aug. 8: Ryan announces he won’t seek a second term. The federal investigation continues; 38 people have been convicted so far.
2002
April 2: The federal government indicts Fawell and Ryan’s campaign committee, Citizens for Ryan, on public corruption charges.
April 18: Richard Juliano, deputy chief of staff, admits he was part of a plan to marshal state employees to work on state time in Ryan’s campaign for governor.
May-June: Several Ryan associates, including Lawrence Warner, Donald Udstuen, Alan Drazek and Roger Stanley, are indicted on federal charges that they used their clout to make money off the state. June 26: Udstuen pleads guilty to tax fraud conspiracy and agrees to cooperate with authorities.
2003
Jan. 13: Ryan leaves office.
Jan. 6: Drazek pleads guilty to defrauding the Internal Revenue Service and says he laundered money as a favor to Udstuen.
May 8: Former state representative Roger Stanley pleads guilty to mail fraud and money laundering.
June: Fawell is sentenced to 78 months in prison.
Dec. 3: Alexandra Coutretsis, also known as Andrea Prokos, pleads guilty to perjury and agrees to become a federal witness. She is a longtime girlfriend of and executive assistant to Fawell.
Dec. 17: Ryan is indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy, income tax fraud, mail fraud, making false statements and filing false federal income tax returns.
– – –
Convictions in the Operation Safe Road probe
Ryan is the 66th person to be charged in the investigation. So far,
58 people and Ryan’s campaign committee have been convicted.
%% SECRETARY OF STATE’S OFFICE CONVICTIONS
Former high-ranking officials (Bauer, Fawell, Juliano) 3
License facility managers and supervisors 7
Road test examiners 8
Other current and former employees 6
ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Employees 3
DRIVING SCHOOLS
Owners or instructors 9
TRUCKING COMPANIES
Owners or employees 6
“MIDDLEMEN”
People not employed by the state or trucking company 7
OTHER
Road test examiners in Florida 3
Citizens for Ryan re-election campaign group 1
Construction company owner 1
Former legislator 1
Con man 1
Political insider 1
Private businessman and lobbyist 2
CONVICTIONS BY YEAR
1998 5
1999 9
2000 21
2001 6
2002 10
2003 8
Sources: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Tribune staff reporting
Chicago Tribune
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