http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/12/28/D8M9ST9O0.html -


Convicted Ex-Ill. Gov. Sues for Pension
Dec 28 9:02 AM US/Eastern


Convicted former Gov. George Ryan is suing to keep at least part of his $197,000 state pension, the third of it that he says he earned before the scandals that now have him facing 6 1/2 years in prison.
Ryan was found guilty in April of mail fraud, money laundering, extortion, obstruction of justice and bribery while he was secretary of state and governor between 1991 and 2003.

After his conviction, the General Assembly Retirement System board voted to strip him of his entire annual pension.

Ryan's attorneys argue in the lawsuit filed Wednesday that the Republican former governor should still get $65,000 in annual pension payments that he earned in the 24 years before 1991, when Ryan was a county board member, legislator and lieutenant governor.

The pension board had relied on an opinion from Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who said Ryan, 72, should forfeit the entire pension because of his felony convictions.

"The criminal conduct in which he engaged for over a decade as a state official is precisely the type of misconduct and breach of public trust that the felony forfeiture provision of (state law) is designed to discourage," Madigan wrote.

Madigan spokesman Scott Mulford told the Chicago Tribune for its Thursday editions that the attorney general's opinion on Ryan's pension had been exhaustively researched and "speaks for itself."

Telephone messages left for retirement system officials seeking comment were not immediately returned.

Pension officials have said Ryan is eligible for a refund of about $235,000, the amount he paid into the system. The former governor claims he did nothing wrong and is free while appealing his conviction.