UPDATE: George Ryan already released to home confinement in his Kankakee home.
Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan, 78, who was convicted of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has been released from the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana on Wednesday morning and is reporting to the Salvation Army Halfway House in Chicago, according to NBC News in Chicago.
Ryan will be staying at the halfway house located in University Village – at 1515 West Monroe - on Chicago’s West Side. During Ryan’s approximately 6-month stay at the halfway house, he will be allowed to obtain a driver’s license from the Secretary of State and leave the residence for work if he gets a job. Most rooms in the residence are for two people which suggests that Ryan may have a roommate during his time there.
During the drive from the prison in which he has been staying in Terre Haute, Indiana to Chicago’s West Side, it has been reported that Ryan will be traveling by car with a family member. Ryan may make a brief stop at the cemetery where his wife is buried. His wife passed away in 2011 during his prison term, and he was not allowed to attend the funeral. He was, however, controversially allowed to visit his wife for a brief amount of time prior to her death when she was extremely ill.
Ryan had to report to the halfway house within approximately four hours of his release, by 7 a.m. on Wednesday, to satisfy the terms of his release-to-halfway house deal.
Ryan has served some six years in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, for his crimes involving federal corruption. The halfway house is in his home state, not far from his hometown of Kankakee to the south of Chicago. The design of the stay at the halfway house is to assist Ryan adjusting back into society.
While this release date is approximately five months ahead of schedule, it is reportedly not uncommon for inmates to be allowed to participate in an early work release program such as Ryan is being allowed to partake.
As Ryan exits his term in confinement for corruption, former Gov. Rod Blagojevich nears the first anniversary of his fourteen-year penitentiary stay in Colorado for his crimes committed while in office in Illinois.
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