Fawell testimony full of wisecracks (Ryan, Chicago)

[bemildred]

Cocky, wisecracking and dripping with attitude, the political strategist who helped to engineer George Ryan's rise to power took the witness stand Thursday and began to tell a federal jury how state contracts, leases and favors were doled out under the former governor.

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Ryan, 71, is charged in a 22-count indictment with racketeering conspiracy, mail fraud, tax fraud and lying to FBI agents. Also on trial is lobbyist Larry Warner, a longtime Ryan friend.

According to the indictment, Ryan doled out leases and contracts to Warner, two other lobbyists and a business associate while vacationing for free at a Jamaican estate and receiving gifts and loans for himself and his relatives.

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The 48-year-old Fawell is a member of perhaps the state's most prominent Republican family. His father was a judge and his sister is a judge. His mother was a state senator. His uncle was a member of Congress who represented Chicago's DuPage County suburbs.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/ryan29.html