Summary

A Federal jury in U.S. District Court in Chicago convicted Scott Fawell, the chief of staff for former Illinois Governor George Ryan, and the Citizens for Ryan campaign committee of racketeering and fraud in a scheme to divert government resources to a political campaign. In a multifaceted scheme, Fawell forced employees of the Illinois Secretary of State’s office to sell raffle tickets to raise money for the former governor’s campaign by tying the employees’ annual pay raises to how many tickets they sold. The employees found it easier to issue CDLs to unqualified applicants for $500 to $l,500 apiece and then use the money to purchase the tickets themselves. At least $170,000 from illegal CDLs wound up in the former governor’s campaign coffers. While the FBI was the lead investigative agency, OIG assisted in the probe of illegally issued CDLs. Fawell’s sentencing is scheduled for June 26.