A request from lawyers for former Gov. George Ryan to grant him an early release from prison so Ryan could care for his ailing wife was denied by a judge this afternoon. Ryan's lawyers had asked U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer to allow for Ryan's release given a Supreme Court ruling limiting the "honest services" law, which was used in Ryan's prosecution.

Earlier this month, Ryan's wife, Lura Lynn, was informed by doctors that she has three to six months to live due to aggressive lung cancer. Ryan has served just over three years of a six-and-a-half year prison sentence for corruption.