Scott and Janet Willis (2006 File Photo; Credit: CBS)
Reporting John Cody
CHICAGO (WBBM) - The lawyer who won a $100 million settlement in the deaths of 6 children of the Rev. Scott and Janet Willis says he’s sympathetic, but agrees with the judge that former Gov. George Ryan should stay in jail.
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On Tuesday, a federal judge denied Ryan’s motion for an early release to be with his terminally-ill wife, LuraLynn.
The Willis Family's Burned-Out Van Following The 1994 Crash That Killed 6 Of Their Children. (CBS)
Ryan will remain in prison, serving out the reminder of his 6-and-a-half-year sentence for corruption.
Attorney Joseph Power says there are others more deserving of judicial sympathy than George Ryan.
“For Mrs. Ryan’s sake, our heart goes out to her and everyone else who’s suffering from terminal cancer. You’re sympathetic to the plight of that person, but, fortunately she has a number of children who can give her comfort while he’s not around because he needs to do his time.”
The six Willis children were killed in November 1994 when a steel part that broke off of a truck struck their family van and set it ablaze on an expressway outside Milwaukee.
Prosecutors believe the license of the truck driver involved in the accident was purchased at the corruption-plagued McCook drivers testing station when Ryan was secretary of state. The driver himself took the 5th Amendment when asked in a civil lawsuit how he got the license.
