Prominent Dem jailed over unpaid felony restitution
Ryan has criminal history from '80s-'90s
Franklin Rep. Jim Ryan was in Carroll County Jail last night, unable to pay restitution related to 16-year-old felonies for passing bad checks. According to prosecutors, Ryan, 50, also has a criminal history from the 1980s and 1990s that stretches through three states, including multiple charges of larceny and forgery.
The news of Ryan's criminal history and current woes saddened and shocked friends and colleagues of the prominent state representative. Ryan, a Democrat who chaired the House Transportation Committee, has built a reputation as a booster of Franklin, a cheery policy wonk and an adjunct professor of political science prone to urging others to read the nation's founding documents.
Assistant County Attorney Susan Boone said it is not common for someone to go to jail over a debt. Ryan's case in Carroll County began with four felony forgery charges from 1992, she said. "The courts will work with people, but you can't ignore (the debt)," she said. "This has been 16 years."
Yesterday evening, Ryan remained in jail in lieu of $9,675 cash-only bail, the remaining amount owed on the 1992 debts, Boone said. Manchester attorney and former representative Jim Craig said last night that he had agreed to represent Ryan and would seek a new bail arrangement for his client that would let him leave jail and work.
"He obviously can't earn any money while he's sitting in jail," Craig said.
Craig said he couldn't explain his client's past, though he said Ryan, a father of three who often brought his daughters with him to public meetings, has lost his home and faces marital troubles. "He's been through the wringer," he said.
It was unclear yesterday what the news meant for Ryan's place in Democratic House leadership. Colleagues reached yesterday expressed only shock at what had happened to Ryan, whose devotion to his area included showing up to town meetings in tiny Hill and standing outside polling stations on days of Franklin's municipal elections.
Rep. Steve Shurtleff said he always saw Ryan bringing his kids with him and he'd call them "team Ryan."
"My heart honestly does go out to his children and his wife," Shurtleff said.
Last month, mortgagers foreclosed on Ryan's home on Cricket Hill Way in Franklin, according to papers filed at the Merrimack County Registry of Deeds.
Ryan has also filed for bankruptcy four times in the past two years, federal court records show, with filings listing debts from mortgage payments in arrears, credit card bills and $60,000 worth of student loans dating back to 1975. Each case is listed as dismissed in federal court. In April, a judge barred him from seeking bankruptcy protection for 12 months.
Ryan, who teaches public policy at New England College and political science at Keene State College, has appeared to be a rising star of the Democratic Party. When state Sen. Peter Burling announced his retirement this year, Ryan was among those some watchers saw as a potential replacement. (Rep. Matthew Houde of Plainfield is seeking the seat.)
Ryan also chaired the New Hampshire presidential campaign of Sen. Joe Biden, who was selected last week to serve as the running mate of Democratic nominee Barack Obama.
Earlier this week, Ryan had exulted at the selection of Biden, telling the Monitor on Monday that "there's probably not many that were more pleased."
Wednesday night, Biden spoke to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. That same night, officers from the Carroll County Sheriff's office arrested Ryan on a writ of capias, said Sgt. Mike Santuccio. That capias was issued because Ryan failed to follow a court order to pay his debt, said Carroll County Attorney Robin Gordon in a phone message.
Boone said that Ryan's criminal record included convictions on four felony counts of forgery in Carroll County. He also was convicted of two felony counts for passing bad checks in Hillsborough County, she said. Ryan's record, which Boone said she described in open court yesterday, extends to Massachusetts and Connecticut.
In Massachusetts, Boone said, between 1988 and 1993, Ryan faced three larceny counts and one count of unauthorized practice of law. In Connecticut, she said, Ryan faced a larceny charge 1986 and a forgery count in 1988.
It kills me that the guy is sitting in jail right now. Jesus.
I actually did a spell check before I typed it because I don't really use or see the word due to not being into sci-fi. But I managed to make a typo anyways. :P
What do Metallica, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Slayer, AC/DC, Black Sabbath (and others) have in common?
*snip*
I lol'd. (And no, I didn't know before. My recent Doom fever made me find out).
some of those are a stretch but yeah it's pretty well known that Carmack and the rest of id has an obsession with that kind of music. I mean, it only makes sense that a bunch of nerds would rip off...ahem...look to their favorite bands for inspiration considering they're programmers and not composers.
As an interesting aside, when I was a kid my godfather lived next door to Carmack. I got to ride in his Hummer a few times. I remember it being that sweet blue green color that was really popular in the early 90's. We talked about video games a lot and whenever I visited my godfather I would always go over to Carmack's house. One time he let me play an early build of a "new game he was working on" that later turned in to Quake.
What do Metallica, Alice in Chains, Pantera, Slayer, AC/DC, Black Sabbath (and others) have in common?
*snip*
I lol'd. (And no, I didn't know before. My recent Doom fever made me find out).
some of those are a stretch but yeah it's pretty well known that Carmack and the rest of id has an obsession with that kind of music. I mean, it only makes sense that a bunch of nerds would rip off...ahem...look to their favorite bands for inspiration considering they're programmers and not composers.
As an interesting aside, when I was a kid my godfather lived next door to Carmack. I got to ride in his Hummer a few times. I remember it being that sweet blue green color that was really popular in the early 90's. We talked about video games a lot and whenever I visited my godfather I would always go over to Carmack's house. One time he let me play an early build of a "new game he was working on" that later turned in to Quake.
Now that's something to tell your friends and grandchildren. "I played an early build of Quake from the hands of Carmack himself!
As a side note, I've downloaded all of the songs listed on the video, and indeed, they are good.
Posts
Goddamn typoes.
Also: Spellchecking is a bitch when your pages only load like 1/3 of the time. Goddamn wifi.
EDIT: Yeah, yeah, I know it's actually idiots ruining the forum. She was merely the catalyst.
Well, I'd heard she's not very good at it.
Just hide with me in chat. It's the only safe haven left.
You never fail to make me smile.
It kills me that the guy is sitting in jail right now. Jesus.
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
Honestly I think Quinu's fuckstupid thread made it worse than it would have been.
Yeah. And my pleas to just shut up about it fall on deaf ears.
Old music off Mp3 player: American Idiot, Stadium Arcadium and All Is Violent, All Is Bright by God is an Astronaut.
I has taste, bishes.
Does that qualify as "good taste"?
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
Put some Charlie Parker on there and we'll talk.
No, Emily, it's if you enjoy the music I listen to.
I actually did a spell check before I typed it because I don't really use or see the word due to not being into sci-fi. But I managed to make a typo anyways. :P
Or Hip-Hop. I just can't stand it ._.
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
Don't ask Irene.
some of those are a stretch but yeah it's pretty well known that Carmack and the rest of id has an obsession with that kind of music. I mean, it only makes sense that a bunch of nerds would rip off...ahem...look to their favorite bands for inspiration considering they're programmers and not composers.
As an interesting aside, when I was a kid my godfather lived next door to Carmack. I got to ride in his Hummer a few times. I remember it being that sweet blue green color that was really popular in the early 90's. We talked about video games a lot and whenever I visited my godfather I would always go over to Carmack's house. One time he let me play an early build of a "new game he was working on" that later turned in to Quake.
Why's that? :P
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
Now that's something to tell your friends and grandchildren. "I played an early build of Quake from the hands of Carmack himself!
As a side note, I've downloaded all of the songs listed on the video, and indeed, they are good.
Please don't go. The drones need you. They look up to you.
in my eyes? yes
josh homme is awesome
do something
Even then, there is some good disco and hip-hop.
Oboro's point is that taste is subjective and that you should listen to what you want to, not what people tell you.
She hates everything.
It'll never stop, until everyone is dead.
DID YOU HEAR HER 17 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER IS PREGGERS
HOW CAN SHE LEAD US IF HER TEENAGE DAUGHTER IS HAVING SEX
I thought stilist was the one who hated everything.
Steam | Twitter
[asinine comment about her attractiveness]
Steam | Twitter
And pie.
Pie gets a special mention because no one hates pie but Irene.
No, stilist is the one who likes a little bit of everything.
Everyone must die.
I don't know what the fuck we'd do without a Sarah Palin thread for people to post pointless bullshit in, and go off-topic for pages at a time in