Marathon Pundit: Ex. Gov. Ryan's wife sent letter to Bush about commutation

Far away from the media glare--because he is in prison--is George Ryan, Rod Blagojevich's predecessor as governor.

Shortly after winning reelection, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), called for President Bush to commute the seven year prison sentence for the Kankakee Republican. Almost immediately Blagojevich chimed in that he favored a commuatation.

The Chicago Tribune reports this morning that Ryan's wife wrote a letter to the president, which was hand-delivered by incoming Barack Obama transportation secretary, Rep. Ray LaHood (R-IL).

In the note, Lura Lynn Ryan said, she reminded the president of the long friendship between their two families and spoke of her husband's efforts to help both the president and his father win election to the White House. She also told the president that she is ill and could use her husband's support at home.

"I asked him to please let him come home because I needed him because of my health," Mrs. Ryan, 74, said Friday from her Kankakee home in a telephone interview. "He knows both of us. We worked very hard for him, as we did for his father."

Mrs. Ryan said she suffers dizzy spells caused by an aneurysm four years ago and wears a medical alert necklace in case of an emergency.

Mrs. Ryan said her husband is not optimistic about the chances of Bush commuting his 6 1/2-year sentence to time served. Ryan, who has spent more than 13 months in prison, is scheduled to be released in mid-2013.