By AP/KWMU
Washington – The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected former Illinois Governor George Ryan's appeal of his federal racketeering and fraud conviction.
The justices made no comment on their action Tuesday. Ryan claimed that he and his fellow defendant, businessman Larry Warner, did not receive a fair trial.
Their lawyers argued that the trial judge replaced two jurors with alternates after deliberations in the case had already begun.
Ryan, 74, is serving a six-and-a-half year sentence in federal prison.
The Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier upheld the convictions.