Ryan v. Board of Trustees of the General Assembly Retirement System

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State: Illinois

Court: Supreme Court

Docket No: 108184 Rel

Case Date: 02/19/2010

Preview:Docket No. 108184.

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS

GEORGE H. RYAN, SR., Appellee, v. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY RETIREMENT SYSTEM et al., Appellants. Opinion filed February 19, 2010.

JUSTICE THOMAS delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion. Chief Justice Fitzgerald and Justices Freeman, Kilbride, Garman, and Karmeier concurred in the judgment and opinion. Justice Burke dissented, with opinion.

OPINION The issue in this case is whether, as a result of his multiple federal felony convictions, former Illinois Governor George H. Ryan, Sr., has forfeited all of the pension benefits he earned from the General Assembly Retirement System. For the reasons that follow, we hold that he has. BACKGROUND The facts of this case are not in dispute. In 1966, Ryan was appointed to the Kankakee County board of supervisors. Ryan was

subsequently elected to and served on the Kankakee County board of supervisors from 1966 to 1972, including a two-year period as chairman. While serving on the Kankakee County board of supervisors, Ryan contributed to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). In November 1972, Ryan was elected as a representative to the General Assembly. He was reelected and served until 1982. While in the General Assembly, Ryan was selected as the minority leader and Speaker of the House. In November 1982, Ryan was elected Lieutenant Governor. Ryan won reelection to that office in 1986. In 1990, Ryan was elected Secretary of State, and he served two terms in this position. In November 1998, Ryan was elected Governor, and he served in that office from January 1999 until January 2003. When Ryan was first elected to the General Assembly in 1972, he became a member of the General Assembly Retirement System (the System). At that time, Ryan transferred the credits he had earned in the IMRF into the System. Ryan continued to participate in the System while serving as Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State and Governor. In December 2002, Ryan applied for his retirement annuity, to begin in January 2003. In December 2003, a federal grand jury indicted Ryan on felony charges for racketeering, conspiracy, mail fraud, making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and income tax violations. These charges were premised on conduct that arose out of and was in connection with Ryan's service as Secretary of State and Governor. In April 2006, a jury found Ryan guilty on all counts. The district court dismissed two of the counts after finding insufficient evidence to support the claims and entered judgment on the remaining counts. Ryan was sentenced to 78 months in prison. Following Ryan's felony convictions, the acting executive secretary of the Illinois State Retirement Systems notified Ryan that all of his pension benefits were being suspended pursuant to section 2

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