Former Gov. George Ryan Asks Court to Invalidate Conviction on Basis of 'Honest Services' Decision

Chicago - Former Illinois Gov. George Ryan is launching a new effort to get out of prison.

Ryan was convicted in 2006 of racketeering, mail fraud and tax charges.

About half of those convictions were tied to the so-called "Honest Services" law. This summer, the U.S. Supreme Court weakened the law, based on appeals from former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and newspaper tycoon Conrad Black.

Marc Martin, who represented Ryan's co-defendant Lawrence Warner, said that Ryan's sentence should be re-calculated.

"If you took the mail fraud charges out, what remains are some tax charges. He would have already done his time," said Martin. He concludes that Ryan should really be facing a two- to three-year sentence-- time he's already served.

At Ryan's trial, prosecutors presented evidence that campaign donations were exchanged for commercial driver's licenses obtained through Ryan's Secretary of State office. But Ryan's attorneys say he never personally benefitted from corrupt payments.

On Wednesday, current Governor Pat Quinn said that Ryan should stay behind bars.

"If you do the crime, you gotta do the time," said Quinn.

Ryan was sentenced to six-and-half years and is currently being held in a federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. No date has been set for a hearing on the appeal.