Summary

On May 11, Donald A. Udstuen was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Chicago to eight months in prison and was fined $30,000 for committing tax fraud. Udstuen, a former board member of Metra (the commuter rail system serving northeast Illinois) and a top lobbyist for the Illinois State Medical Society, was also a political adviser to former Illinois Governor George H. Ryan, Sr. Udstuen pled guilty in June 2002 to tax fraud conspiracy and has cooperated in the investigation of corruption when Ryan was Secretary of State (1991 to 1999) and Illinois Governor (1999 to 2003). Udstuen admitted striking a deal with Warner to steer state business to favored vendors in exchange for kickbacks -- with over $300,000 paid to Udstuen.