Jailed Ill. Gov. Ryan seeks commutation

CHICAGO, May 19 (UPI) -- Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan will ask President Barack Obama to commute the remainder of his political corruption prison sentence, Ryan's attorney says.

Attorney Jim Thompson, himself a former Illinois governor, told The Chicago Tribune Tuesday he would give a petition to Obama on Ryan's behalf, even while acknowledging the president has "other things on his plate."

Thompson said he is hopeful that because Obama knows Ryan he would act as "a merciful president" and would allow Ryan, who has served more than a year of his 6 1/2-year sentence, to come home to be with his ailing wife Lura, who, like Ryan, is in her 70s.

Ryan's earlier petition for commutation, presented to former President George Bush, was lost in the shuffle over the then-ongoing corruption scandal involving the now-impeached Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Thompson told the Tribune.