Ex-Gov. Ryan is step closer to prison

Saying it is time for former Gov. George H. Ryan to start his prison sentence, a federal appeals court in Chicago denied his request to remain free while he challenges his conviction on corruption charges.

Ryan and codefendant Lawrence E. Warner, who have been free on bond since being convicted in April 2006, were ordered to start serving their federal prison sentences Wednesday.

“Although they undoubtedly would like to postpone the day of reckoning as long as they can, they have come to the end of the line as far as this court is concerned,” Judge Diane P. Wood wrote in an opinion from the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals.