Here’s a special news feed for the latest George Ryan news. I’ll also post other updates as I see them. The hearing starts at 1pm, so check this space.

UPDATE: I’m told that Jim Thompson just walked into the federal building with George Ryan. Thompson’s firm represented Ryan pro bono.

UPDATE 2: Your best bet for listening to events live on your computer might be WBBM Radio. But I’ll check around. CLTV might be a good bet, too. ABC7 is promising live coverage.

UPDATE 3: CBS2 has a story up about what to expect at the sentencing.

UPDATE 4:E-mail message from a reporter on the scene: “Thompson actually snuck George into the Dirksen building, so we couldn’t photograph them coming in.”

UPDATE 5: Convictions on counts 9 and 10 have been tossed by the judge. The rest of the counts stand, according to WBBM radio. The station also reported that the crowd started gathering at 8:30 this morning.

UPDATE 6: From the jury instructions, here is what those two counts were:

…Count 9 of the Indictment, in which the defendant LAWRENCE E. WARNER is charged with, as part of the mail fraud scheme described in Count 2, an April 13, 1999 mailing related to the lease of the building at 17 N. State, Chicago, Illinois […]

Count 10 of the Indictment, in which the defendant GEORGE H. RYAN, SR. is charged with, as part of the mail fraud scheme described in Count 2, a March 12, 2001 mailing related to the payment of lobbying fees related to the selection of the town of Grayville as the site for a new prison,

UPDATE 7: From a reporter at the scene:

Becky (the judge) just threw out two of the mail fraud counts against Ryan and one against Warner. But that won’t have any effect on the ultimate sentence. They’re now arguing what the financial loss was to the state. So it could be awhile.

UPDATE 8: Acccording to WBBM Radio, the judge called the Willis deaths “an unspeakable tragedy,” but she said it was not germain to the charges in the case and so she would not take that into consideration when sentencing Ryan.

UPDATE 9: I hadn’t seen this one before because NBC5 seems to hide things on its website. This is a great resource that goes all the way back to the World Trade Center scandal when Ryan was lt. governor.

One of the final chapters of the George Ryan saga will come to an end Sept. 6, when he is sentenced for his felony convictions.

How did it come to this?

NBC5 has compiled the following archival stories that trace the history of investigations involving the former governor.

Go take a look.

UPDATE 10: WBBM: Prosecutor Pat Collins is arguing for a sentence right now of between 78 and 97 months. (Scott Fawell got 78 months. Betty Loren Maltese got 97 months.)

UPDATE 11: From a reporter at the scene:

“He was not betrayed by his friends, he betrayed the public trust.” -Pat Collins

UPDATE 12: WBBM just reported that Ryan himself may speak during the hearing. I’ll believe it when I see it, but there you have it.

UPDATE 13: Defense attorney Dan Webb is now speaking. From our reporter friend at the hearing:

Webb just said Ryan had it worse than Kerner because the investigation went on longer.

UPDATE 14 (3:26 pm): According to someone in the room with a Blackberry, George Ryan is speaking now.

UPDATE 15: Ryan has been sentenced to 78 months.

UPDATE 16: Ryan said that the public expected better from them, “and I let them down.”

UPDATE 17: CBS2: In addition to the prison sentence, Ryan was ordered to pay $603,048 in restitution.

UPDATE 18: Jan. 4 surrender date. Oxford Prison.

UPDATE 19: See it live on ABC7

UPDATE 20: Court is in a brief recess. Warner will be sentenced when that’s over.

UPDATE 21: Placeholder for the Sun-Times Ryan story is here, the Daily Herald story is here. The Trib placeholder is here.

UPDATE 22: 41 months for Warner

UPDATE 23: Statement from Topinka:

“The sentence handed down today is a reminder that Rod Blagojevich had a golden opportunity to restore trust in government after George Ryan, he promised voters he would do that — and he failed miserably.

It is now Rod Blagojevich facing a record number of corruption investigations, the same designation as Public Official A, the same mountain of subpoenas and legal bills. It’s like voters are forced to watch the sequel to a bad movie.

I’m running for governor to move past the Ryan-Blagojevich corruption scandals and build a brighter future for Illinois.”

UPDATE 24: Here’s your answer about the pension:

His more than $197,000 annual pension, however, will likely soon vanish. Upon his sentencing Wednesday, state pension officials asked the state attorney general to begin the process of canceling his taxpayer-supported pension.

Cara Smith, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Lisa Madigan, said Ryan’s conviction is under review and an opinion on his pension will be coming soon.

Like any state official, Ryan’s pension can be revoked if convicted of crimes related to his public duties. Ryan was convicted and sentenced Wednesday to 6 1/2 years in prison for widespread fraud associated with him taking cash from political insiders in exchange for state contracts and other business while Ryan was secretary of state and then governor.

UPDATE 25: Oxford:

The federal judge handling his case recommended he serve his 6 1/2 year sentence in Oxford, Wis., roughly 60 miles north of Madison. That’s the same prison where former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski served his time and where several officials convicted in the Operation Greylord investigation ended up. Former insurance mogul Mickey Segal is currently imprisoned there, serving a 10-year sentence for siphoning millions from his brokerage firm to support a lavish lifestyle.

However, a spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons said the final decision on where Ryan goes rests with the bureau and that decision has not yet been made.

Ryan’s wedding band is one of the few personal effects he can bring to prison. Cell phones and other electronics are banned.

He’ll be allowed face-to-face visits with friends and family and private meetings with his lawyers. His mail will be opened and inspected and a warden must first approve all newspapers, magazines and other subscriptions.