Ill. Gov. Ryan’s Friend Indicted

A close friend of Gov. George Ryan was indicted Tuesday on charges of shaking down state vendors for $2.8 million and sharing the cash with a powerful lobbyist and an unidentified state official.

“For the better part of a decade, when it came to contracts and leases with the secretary of state’s office, the fix was in,” U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald told the media.

He said the “fixer” was Lawrence Warner, 62, a longtime friend of the governor. Warner had the run of the secretary of state’s office under Ryan, virtually deciding who got certain contracts and leases, and going to the state official when he needed more authority, prosecutors said.

Donald Udstuen, 58, former lobbyist for the Illinois State Medical Society, was also named in the indictment along with businessman Alan Drazek, 61, a Ryan appointee to the Chicago transit board.

The charges are the latest in the four-year federal investigation of corruption in the secretary of state’s office under Ryan, who was elected governor in 1998. More than 40 people have been convicted, many of them former secretary of state employees and campaign workers under Ryan.

The Republican governor has been charged with no wrongdoing thus far, but his campaign and former campaign manager are under indictment on charges of secretly using state funds and employees for political work.

The governor’s office released a statement saying Ryan was “saddened by today’s indictment of his friend Larry Warner.” According to the indictment, Warner shook down state landlords and vendors. It said he shared the money with the state official, then passed a portion along to Drazek, who kept part, laundered the rest and gave it to Udstuen.