KANKAKEE, ILL. -- UPDATED: January 7 at 10:36 a.m.
Federal prosecutors say former Ill. Gov. George Ryan spent two hours out of prison to visit his ailing wife this week.
Ryan's brief visit became public for the first time Friday by the U.S. Attorney's office. Because of the visit, prosecutors say they oppose a motion to let Ryan out on bail.
The federal filing says the Bureau of Prisons granted Ryan an escorted trip Wednesday evening to the Kankakee, Ill., hospital where his wife Lura Lynn Ryan is being treated for cancer.
A motion filed by Ryan's lawyers had asked that he be let out of prison on bail, saying the former governor's wife of 55 years is suffering from terminal cancer.
Ryan is in federal prison after he was convicted of corruption charges in 2006.
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Family members of imprisoned former Illinois Gov. George Ryan are waiting for a federal appeals court to decide whether Ryan should be allowed to join them at his hospitalized wife's bedside.
Ryan's attorneys filed an emergency motion Wednesday asking that the 76-year-old former governor be let out of prison so he can be with his wife of 55 years.
Lura Lynn Ryan is in intensive care suffering complications from chemotherapy.
Attorneys also have appealed to prison authorities to release Ryan under a program allowing inmates temporary leave to visit gravely ill family members.
The former governor has served three years of a 6 1/2-year sentence on convictions of racketeering, conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements to the FBI.
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