Brig C. McCoy -- Illinois Governors

With the conviction of Rod Blagojevich, four of the last eight governors of the State of Illinois have been convicted of serious crimes.
Walker got in trouble for things he did after he left office, but the others were convicted for things they did in office.
I grew up in Illinois and can still remember working as a crossing guard in grade school and watching Gov Walker's car drive by me several times.

Convicted

NamePartyYears GovernorYears Imprisoned
Rod BlagojevichDemocrat2003-20092012-Current
George RyanRepublican1999-20032007-2013 (Currently in a halfway house in Chicago)
Daniel WalkerDemocrat1973-197717 months in prison.
Otto KernerDemocrat1961-1968Sentenced to three years, released early because of terminal cancer, died 1976.

Two of the others

NamePartyYears GovernorNotes
Jim EdgarRepublican1991-1999His largest campaign contributor, Management Systems of Illinois, "was granted a contract that cost the people of Illinois an estimated $20 million in overcharges." While several folks were convicted in Federal court in the case, "no charges were brought against Edgar."
Samuel ShapiroDemocrat1968-1969One of the eight, he was in office less than eight months... not enough time to much of anything.

My favorite?

Otto Kerner - "The scandal came to light because Everett [a racetrack owner who bribed Kerner and his finance director for choice racing dates] had deducted the value of the stock on her federal income tax returns in the belief that bribery was an ordinary and necessary business expense in Illinois."

Special Mention

Paul Powell, Illinois Secretary of State from 1965 to 1970.
From Wikipedia:
"Although he never made more than $30,000 a year, upon his death, shoeboxes, briefcases and strongboxes with more than $800,000 in cash were found in his hotel suite residence in Springfield, Illinois.
In his hotel room he also had 49 cases of whiskey, 14 transistor radios, and two cases of creamed corn. When settled in 1978 his estate was worth $4.6 million, of which $1 million was racetrack stock."

Last Modified 04 Feb 2013
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