A Fitzgerald prosecution?
Chicago Tribune 'Safe Road' probe almost didn't happen:
"Whistle-blower Tony Berlin's first entry in his log of corruption at the secretary of state's office was dated in November 1993, but he and others had to work for years to get the attention of investigators.
Berlin, a license examiner at the driver's license facility in suburban McCook, finally got the FBI on board in 1997, but only after a powerful Democratic lawyer, another whistle-blower and a one-time investigator for former Gov. George Ryan put the feds on the track.
Operation Safe Road, as the probe came to be called, started as a license-for-bribes scandal, mushroomed into the illegal use of state workers for political campaigns and ultimately resulted in Monday's conviction of Ryan on all 18 counts of federal corruption charges.
Ryan's co-defendant, lobbyist Lawrence Warner, was also found guilty on 12 counts.
The investigation of Ryan and Warner has already changed the way politics is played in the state. It has made lobbyists more accountable and resulted in the tougher driver's license laws, experts say."
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