From the SJ-R: 
 
Fawell describes transfer ordeal 
Says prison journey made him 'suspicious' of feds 
 
By MIKE RAMSEY 
 COPLEY NEWS SERVICE 
 
Published Thursday, October 13, 2005 
 
 CHICAGO - Scott Fawell spent 12 weeks being shuffled among federal prisons last year on his way to a brief court hearing in Chicago. 
 
 The convicted racketeer said Wednesday the experience made him "suspicious" that government authorities were nudging him to turn against his old boss, former Gov. George Ryan. 
 
 Fawell's three-month odyssey came out in detail as the former Ryan aide - now a key witness for prosecutors in Ryan's corruption trial - was cross-examined for a second day. Ryan's defense team contends Fawell felt great pressure to cooperate in hopes of getting leniency for himself and his indicted fiancee in an unrelated case. 
 
 "I'm believing at that time ... it's part of the game. I'm getting heat, pressure, foot on the throat," Fawell said of his mindset during the trip. "I can't believe this is normal procedure for moving somebody. So, yeah, I'm suspicious." 
 
 Fawell said he was moved in March 2004 from the Yankton, S.D., work camp where he's serving a 61/2-year sentence in a dormitory setting so that he could attend a Chicago arraignment on new federal charges against him. 
 
 But he said he remained for two weeks, without explanation, in a cell at a prisoner travel hub in Oklahoma City, then was sent to a federal jail in the Loop for the next six weeks. Fawell said he eventually appeared in court for "10 (or) 15 minutes - maybe a half-hour, tops," before he was transported to a prison in Terre Haute, Ind. 
 
 "That was a maximum-security prison that houses some of the most dangerous criminals in America, is that correct?" Ryan's lead defense attorney, Dan Webb, asked Fawell. He agreed. 
 
 Fawell said he spent a week in solitary confinement in Terre Haute, which he thought was unusual because of his minimum-security classification as a prisoner. From a small cell window, he said he could see the chamber where condemned prisoners are given lethal injections. Another stop at the Oklahoma City lockup rounded out his journey back to Yankton, he said. 
 
 The once-defiant Fawell said he made a statement to prosecutors in June 2004 as part of a deal to participate in their case against Ryan. Fawell was chief of staff and campaign adviser to Ryan when the Kankakee Republican was secretary of state in the 1990s. 
 
 On his more recent trips to Chicago, Fawell said he has not - in Webb's words - endured another "12-week merry-go-round." 
 
 Away from jurors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon slammed Webb for suggesting that Fawell was mistreated in a way that evoked the Abu Ghraib prison scandal in Iraq. Another prosecutor, Joel Levin, complained that the reference to the Terre Haute death chamber was inappropriate in a white-collar corruption case such as the Ryan trial. 
 
 U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer stressed to jurors that Fawell's travel in the problematic journey was handled by U.S. marshals, not prosecutors. She said Fawell's testimony shows his "state of mind" at the time. 
 
 Ryan, 71, is accused of allowing a small circle of friends, including lobbyist Larry Warner of Chicago, to reap lucrative contracts and leases in the secretary of state's office in exchange for gifts, cash and vacations. Some charges also stem from Ryan's 1999-2003 term as governor. 
 
 Warner, 67, is a co-defendant in the 22-count racketeering case. 
 
 Fawell was convicted in March 2003 of diverting Ryan's public employees for political campaign purposes and vowed at the time he would not turn on his former mentor. But Fawell said he reconsidered after his subsequent indictment in a separate bid-rigging case that also snared his fiancee and former assistant, Andrea Coutretsis. 
 
 Fawell and Coutretsis have pleaded guilty in connection with a 2001 scheme to steer a construction-management contract at Chicago's McCormick Place when the couple ran operations there. Coutretsis also pleaded guilty to perjury in another case. 
 
 For the second day in a row, Fawell was overcome with emotion and broke down on the stand as he talked about his fiancee, the divorced mother of two small children, whom he hopes to keep out of jail. Pallmeyer called a brief recess so that the 48-year-old witness could compose himself. 
 
 Fawell appeared cocky on his first day of testimony Sept. 29, but said he toned down his manner after realizing he could harm Coutretsis' chances for leniency. 
 
 "I don't want to give anyone an excuse to double-cross me," said Fawell, who also hopes to avoid any new prison time for himself. 
 
 Also Wednesday, Fawell said he managed day-to-day operations in the secretary of state's office while Ryan focused on broader policy issues. He said Ryan helped his political supporters, but he was not aware of his boss ever taking a bribe from Warner. 
 
 "Did Larry Warner ever tell you he was giving money to George Ryan for anything?" Webb asked. 
 
 "No," Fawell responded. 
 
 The prosecution has told jurors that the "flow" of benefits among Ryan and Warner and others was not blatant or obvious. 
 
 Wednesday was Fawell's fifth day on the witness stand, but he spent only about three hours testifying, in part because defense attorneys and prosecutors argued about Webb's cross-examination tactics. During a morning debate out of jurors' earshot, prosecutors complained that Webb appeared to agree with Fawell on Tuesday as Fawell said witnesses in his own trial committed perjury. Pallmeyer instructed jurors that Fawell was expressing his opinion. 
 
 Court broke up early Wednesday for the Yom Kippur holiday. The Ryan trial, which began two weeks ago, resumes Monday at U.S. District Court in Chicago. It is expected to last about four months.