From the Chicago Tribune
Ex-Ryan aide pleads guilty to bid rigging
--------------------
By Mike Robinson
Associated Press Writer
March 4, 2004
A trusted member of former Gov. George Ryan's inner circle pleaded guilty Thursday
to mail fraud in a bid-rigging scheme that enabled a St. Louis company to land
an $11.5 million contract supervising the expansion of Chicago's McCormick Place
exposition center.
Alexandra Coutretsis, 34, admitted she furnished sealed bidding information
to an employee of the Ronan Potts lobbying firm, headed by powerful lobbyist
and Ryan fundraiser Al Ronan.
She said in a signed plea agreement that her boss at the Metropolitan Pier and
Exposition Authority, Scott Fawell, told her to furnish sealed bid information
that was supposed to be kept confidential to a Ronan Potts employee, Julie Starsiak.
"Give Julie everything we got,'' she quoted Fawell as saying.
Fawell, currently serving a 61/2-year racketeering sentence in an unrelated
case, was named by Ryan to the $199,000 post as CEO of the authority and faces
additional charges in the bid-rigging probe.
Coutretsis, who had worked under Fawell in the Illinois secretary of state's
office as well as in Ryan's campaigns, admitted the information she supplied
enabled St. Louis-based Jacobs Facilities to land a contract in 2001 to supervise
the $800 million McCormick Place expansion.
Jacobs reduced its bid on the contract by $7.3 million after receiving information
about other sealed bids from Starsiak, prosecutors say.
The McCormick Place bid-rigging probe stemmed from the six-year-old Operation
Safe Road investigation, which began by focusing on bribes paid in return for
commercial drivers licenses and branched into political corruption in state
offices and McCormick Place.
Seventy-three state employees and others have been charged in the corruption
investigation, including Ryan, who has pleaded innocent to racketeering; 62
have been convicted or pleaded guilty.
Coutretsis pleaded guilty in December to lying to a federal grand jury about
a list of jobs in the secretary of state's office and other favors used to advance
Ryan's political fortunes.
She and prosecutors have tentatively agreed to a one-year sentence on that charge.
The mail fraud count could add a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000
fine.
Also Thursday, former Jacobs employee Elizabeth Koski, 35, pleaded guilty to
one count of lying to federal agents when they questioned her about bidding
information she received. Koski admitted that she lied when she claimed to be
unable to recall getting information from Starsiak concerning teams of female
and minority subcontractors assembled by rival bidders.
Starsiak also has pleaded guilty to lying to agents and is awaiting sentencing,
as has former Jacobs executive James Nagle, who allegedly got the bidding numbers
from Starsiak.
The Ronan Potts firm is charged along with Fawell with racketeering in the case.
Ronan himself has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
However, Coutretsis said in her signed plea agreement she was aware that an
unnamed co-conspirator "provided certain vacation benefits and numerous
golf benefits to Fawell.'' It did not specify what those benefits might have
been.
Coutretsis said that once Fawell became aware that a federal investigation of
his political activities was under way, the unindicted co-conspirator "helped
to coordinate along with Starsiak a fundraiser held at Tavern on Rush to raise
funds for Fawell's legal defense fund.''
She said the co-conspirator also "contributed and caused others to contribute
to Fawell's legal defense fund and provided other financial benefits to Fawell.''
While the co-conspirator was identified only as "Fawell Associate 1,''
Ronan Potts attorney James Cutrone said at a news conference recently that the
individual appeared to be Ronan.
Copyright (c) 2004, Chicago Tribune