Responding to the latest revelations in the state’s bribes-for-licenses scandal, Gov. George Ryan on Friday asked the federal government to help revoke the driving privileges of truckers throughout the country who may have fraudulently obtained their licenses in Illinois.
Ryan’s request came as his successor as secretary of state, Jesse White, finished sending letters to another 35 states notifying them of the scandal and the potential that unsafe truckers are on the road.
White last week alerted 14 states about truckers who may have bought licenses in Illinois and then traded them for licenses in other states. At least five of those states already have revoked licenses or called in truckers for retesting.
On Friday, Ryan sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater that also requested an immediate review of Illinois’ commercial driver’s license process. But such a review, called a recertification, was granted last August, according to White’s office.
Ryan’s letter asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration for assistance in identifying potential problem truckers in other states and “if appropriate, disqualifying” their licenses on an “emergency basis.”
“We cannot be sure that all such individuals have been identified or that other states will take swift, immediate and uniform action to ensure the highest levels of safety for the traveling public,” Ryan wrote.
“We would urge you, working with the Department of Justice, to exercise your authority to the fullest extent of the law to identify the entire universe of those who may have obtained commercial licenses under suspect circumstances and to ensure that state departments of motor vehicles take strong action to remove immediately such individuals from the road until they can be retested and requalified,” Ryan wrote.
A spokesman for Slater said the department was reviewing Ryan’s request.
A continuing federal investigation already has led to the indictment of 30 individuals; 22 have been convicted, including 12 former secretary of state’s office employees. Federal authorities have said at least $170,000 of bribe money ended up in the campaign coffers of Ryan while he was secretary of state.
Ryan has not been accused of wrongdoing and has maintained that he did everything he could to root out corruption while secretary of state.
As the scandal first began to unfold in the weeks before he became governor last year, Ryan ordered nearly 3,400 individuals with commercial driver’s licenses or permits to be retested. More than 500 additional retests have been ordered under White.
Ryan aides said the plea for federal help was motivated by the governor’s concern for public safety.
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The move comes as Ryan’s popularity ratings have plunged to new lows.
In recent weeks, Ryan has been put on the defensive by revelations that the scandal has been linked to fatal accidents in other states. One incident was in California, where two people died in a 74-vehicle pileup blamed on a truck driver who told the Tribune he paid an $800 bribe to obtain his truck driving permit in Illinois. The crash, which also resulted in 51 injuries, occurred in November 1998, the same month Ryan was elected governor.
The California crash was the third fatal accident to become publicly known involving suspected illegal purchases of trucker licenses during Ryan’s tenure as secretary of state from 1991 to January 1999.
In 1994 in Wisconsin, six Chicago children were killed in a fiery crash after a heavy metal part fell off a truck driven by Ricardo Guzman. In 1997, trucker Jain Ying Jiang died when he rear-ended another truck in Maryland. Prosecutors have said that Guzman paid a bribe to get his license and that Jiang’s name appears on a list of truckers who federal authorities suspect obtained their licenses through fraud.
“It’s sad that Mr. Ryan didn’t do this long ago,” Joseph A. Power Jr., the attorney for the family of the six Chicago children, said Friday. “I’m certain, knowing him and his administration and how they dealt with this problem in the past, that it’s an act of desperation. But as I said, it’s better late than never.”
Dave Druker, a White spokesman, said White has worked with federal prosecutors and already taken steps to improve truck driver licensing, including retesting drivers with suspect licenses and alerting other states about the potential problems.
Druker said Illinois’ trucker licensing program was recertified in August after a five-day inspection by federal officials. The program is reviewed every 8 to 10 years, he said.
Dennis Culloton, Ryan’s spokesman, said the governor wanted a uniform response from states. Ryan’s efforts to involve the federal transportation agency represents another “resource that we can tap into to ensure that no stone is left unturned.”
The 35 additional states White alerted in notices sent Thursday and Friday were told of the “potentially national problem,” Druker said.
White welcomed input from Ryan and Slater, yet he believes the “commercial driver’s license operation is a good one in Illinois now,” Druker said.