Ryan Awaits Answer On Possible Release
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CBS) -- Former Gov. George Ryan should find out later Friday if he will be granted a temporary release from prison.
As CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli reports, there have been no updates on Lura Lynn Ryan's condition, or whether it has changed at all since she was admitted to Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee on Wednesday morning.
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Thus, an intense effort is underway to get her husband of 50 years to her bedside.
George Ryan is in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., where he has served half of his 6 1/2-year sentence for a 2006 corruption conviction.
Now, Ryan's attorneys have asked the warden at the prison to release Ryan temporarily. They suggest that he be locked up in the Kankakee County Jail at night so he can spend time with his dying wife during the day.
At the same time, Ryan's attorneys have filed an emergency motion with the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which is hearing an appeal of George Ryan's corruption convictions, seeking a release on bail pending a hearing on his appeal.
U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer denied a request to release Ryan early last month, shortly after doctors revealed Lura Lynn might have only a few months to live.
Prosecutors today told the court that Ryan's bail request should be denied "because Ryan has not shown that his appeal is likely to succeed."
But as for the option of a mercy release from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, such requests are quite frequent, and quite frequently granted.
